SAO: Multiverse
by Urolutze
Summary: After acquiring an amulet that gives whoever wears it a fragment of a power of a God, Owen Snow travels to an SAO universe and notices some differences. Kirito and Asuna don't show up at the meeting on floor 1, so Owen (Oblivion) forms a party to defeat the boss themselves. Though they find Kirito later on, they have even more problems to deal with. Part of SAO:Rebirth, by Yozila85
1. Prologue, Ch1

**July 13th 2018**

 **Edmonton Alberta - Canada**

"So he was ran over, multiple times, you buried him, then you got some sort of sick feeling?" The doctor asked.

"Some kind of weird feeling, something I never felt before, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't sick or anything." Owen said.

The doctor thought for a moment, "Come with me, we'll do an X-Ray and see what's going on in there." The doctor said, getting off of his chair, with Owen doing the same as well. The doctor gave him the X-Ray, and showed him the results.

"Everything seems normal to me, where did you feel this feeling?" The doctor asked.

"Somewhere in my chest, probably my heart. Couldn't tell if it was pain, or just me going crazy." Owen said, the doctor took a look but found no signs of damage.

"You should be okay, but if it happens again, come back and we'll check on your heart rate." The doctor said, Owen then left the room and went to the elevator in the hallway and got down to the ground floor and exited the building. As he got into his truck his phone started ringing, it was a friend of his named Alex. Owen picked up the phone and answered the call saying, "Hey, how's life so far?"

"It's been all right. Wanna come to the bar?" He asked.

"I'll come if you want, which one, the one closest to the ol' elementary school by my place?" Owen asked.

"Yes actually, you are allowed to drink at the moment, right?" She asked.

"Yes, though, I feel we should head over to your place after we get the drinks." Owen said.

"But then how the hell are you gonna get home? You can't sleep here, there's no room, and plus-." Alex said, though, Owen interrupted.

"I got a brother who can just tow my truck back home then I'll take a taxi home, boom, solved." Owen said.

"Whatever, that works, as long as he's available. You make sure he can and we'll be good to go." He said, hanging up.

Owen texted his brother who had his own tow truck that he used for work and his brother said he could tow it back home after he got to the house, and then Owen could take a taxi home. Owen then texted Alex that they were good to go and Owen drove away from the hospital and to the bar.

He parked outside the bar and saw Alex's pure black car parked across the other side of the lot. He saw Alex come out the door on the right and Alex gestured Owen to open the window, and Owen rolled down his window as well.

"So where have you been this summer?" Owen asked.

"Nowhere, just deciding what I want to do with my life, you?" Alex asked.

"I've already decided, gonna form a company, though, unless you want me to help you with any business or shit like that." Owen said.

"Nah, though, I'm hoping you could join me for something I wanna do." Alex said. "I'll explain later." Owen then rolled his window back up and Alex went in and shortly came out with the drinks and entered his car, and they drove off.

They entered the apartment and they sat down on the couch. "Now what was this you wanted me to join Alex?" Owen asked, at the same time, texting his brother to pick up the truck.

"An expedition, oh right, you never met my bird Raven have you?" Alex said, before whistling, and a bird fazed through the wall and flew towards Alex, landing on his shoulder. "Surprised? Fuck, just wait until he speaks, say something."

*Hello mortal, or should I call you Owen?* Raven said, surprising Owen.

"Um, y-yeah just call me Owen, that's good. So, what does this talking bird have to do with an expedition?" Owen asked.

"I want to learn how to travel throughout the multiverse, as Raven here told me about something called the Wolf Hunt, and someone named Wolf, the dark torturer of SAO. He told me Caleb had reincarnated, he showed me everything, I want to literally see for myself, though, I don't know how to go to those other universes by will, so I need to gain some sort of power to eventually travel the multiverse." Wolf said.

"No way, that's crazy, SAO was only an idea, by an author, there's no way there's an actual SAO universe. If Raven here showed you everything, I want to see for myself." Owen said.

Raven then flew to the coffee table and created a dark mirror, which soon, two people were revealed, one was wearing a black and green cloak with a hood over his head, wielding a sword and shield, fighting Laughing Coffin members, alongside a pink haired girl wielding a mace. The vision then ended off slowly afterwards.

"Who was that Raven? Who is the one in the black and green cloak?" Owen asked.

*That would be you, Owen. His handle is Oblivion, the war hero who fought Laughing Coffin alongside Artemis and Kirito, the heroes of SAO of that universe, and you and Lisbeth in that universe, fought alongside each other, protected each other with your lives.* Raven said, Owen then shook his head after a entering state of shock upon hearing what he just heard. He took a bottle of beer and opened it and drank it almost halfway.

"And what's this Wolf Hunt thing from?" Owen asked.

"I'm convinced it takes place in the universe of World of Warcraft, though, I could be wrong." Alex said, also drinking his own drink.

Owen leaned back and sighed, "Well there's no way in hell we're gonna be able to gain a power like universe traveling, right?"

*Actually Owen, you seem to have a great gift, a strong source of power in your heart.* Raven said.

"What? He actually does?" Alex asked.

*In the month of April, a young man named Caleb was run over by a semi-truck, Alex, who avenged his death, before Owen Snow here buried the body with someone named Matthew Haltz. They both had magical capabilities since they buried him because his soul was carried off by God from this universe, to a new universe of his choice, thus, before the body was carried away into that universe, the body had gave them magical capabilities.* Raven said.

"So, If me or Matt wanted, we could master a power like universe traveling?" Owen asked.

*In Caleb's new universe, he is what is known as Godborn, a being much like the dragonborn from what humans call Skyrim, a video game, which I see you have played many times yourself. Since you have a fragment of that power, if God allows you to learn such a power like universe traveling, then just maybe we have a chance at finding the Caleb you knew, once again.* Raven said.

"Hmm, well, me and Matt kinda left off with bad terms and I haven't been able to get a hold of Matt for a long time, so where are we headed Alex?" Owen asked.

"We need to get Matt first, then we must go to Israel to train you and Matt to learn the power we need, and then, once we finish that, we will open up a portal to Caleb's universe, and see what we find on the other side." Alex said.

Owen sighed, "Matt would never come with us, he'd think we're crazy." Owen said.

*You didn't think you were crazy yourself when I started speaking to you.* Raven said.

"Hmm, I guess he'll get it once he meets you Raven." Owen said.

 **July 17th 2018 - 10:00 PM**

Owen knocked on the door of Matt's apartment, and soon, he opened the door. "So you came back to see your old friend, why?" Matt asked.

"I want you to come with me, and Alex, we're going on a trip." Owen said.

"To where?" Matt asked.

"To Israel." Owen said.

 **20 Minutes Later**

Alex and Matt were in the front of Alex's car, whereas Owen was in the back. "Why are we going to Israel, and why is there a crow on your shoulder?" Matt asked.

"Don't call him that, this is Raven, my bird, or rather, the celestial spirit of death. Raven, speak to Matt." Alex said.

*Hello mortal, or, Matt, shall I call you?* Raven asked, this startled Matt, though, he pulled himself together.

"Yes call me Matt. So what are we going to Israel for?" Matt asked.

*When you buried Caleb with Owen, you gained a power, a gift, magical capabilities, and Alex wants you to master a power that will allow us to learn the power of universe traveling. We are going to Israel because it is much connected to God, which is where you got the powers from, and Caleb had them contained until his soul was transferred to another universe.* Raven said.

"Well might as well trust the talking bird." Matt said.

"Yeah well I don't know if I can't trust Alex, the guy who tortures people wearing the Elmo mask." Owen joked.

"Shut it, I did that for fun! Now, are you guy's fucking ready?" Alex said.

They tiredly said yes, with their eyes squinting and looking forwards. Alex wasn't tired though, and he drove off.


	2. Prologue, Ch2

**July 18th 2018 - 9:12 AM**

 **Highway to Prince George, British Columbia**

"Hey guy's, wake up, it's almost time for Matt to drive and I gotta sleep." Alex said.

Owen and Matt then woke up. Owen yawned and said, "Where are we?"

"We're on the way to Prince George, and soon we'll be heading to Mackenzie shortly after, then we'll be heading over to Vancouver, where we will get a boat out to where we need to be." Alex said.

"Wow, great…" Owen said, sighing.

"Oh don't be so glum, at least you'll see your hometown again." Matt said.

"Funny thing is, one time I was talking to Caleb through Facebook two years ago in the summertime while I was in Mackenzie, and my brother sent him a picture of the Library and Caleb actually knew where I was, as he'd actually been there before, which I didn't know he had before I went." Owen said.

Matt then started driving down the road to Prince George. "So, Raven, tell Matt about the other universes." Owen said.

 _*After Caleb died, his soul was carried off by God from this universe to a universe of his own, and he chose an SAO universe, with some minor alterations.*_ Raven said.

"Meh." Matt simply replied.

 **Two Hours Later**

They were in town and Matt went to the gas station to fill Alex's car up with gas, as it was running out. Alex woke up, and as he did, Owen said, "Just getting gas for the car and then I'm gonna take over for driving."

"All right then, well where should we go for lunch?" Alex asked.

"They got a few McDonalds, though, I prefer Harvey's, which they don't have here I don't think, but hey, we can always just go to Burger King." Owen said.

Matt entered the car and said, "I want Taco Bell."

"Yeah no thanks, I'd rather not explode in the car today." Owen said, jokingly.

"I know, I was saying that just so you'd say that." Matt said.

"Fuck it, McDonalds, let's just go." Alex said, Owen started the car and they drove off, ate, and then headed for their next location, Mackenzie, two hours away from PG.

 **1 Hour Later**

"All right, it's Alex's turn." Owen said, stopping the car and getting out of the car and switching with Alex. Matt moved to the front and Owen sat in the back.

"Ah, can you smell that air? The air of that you know there's gonna be fucking bugs everywhere?" Owen joked, the others chuckled a bit. "Oh just wait 'till we get to Mackenzie, there's a lot."

Alex then started driving. "Never thought Caleb would actually do it, like actually kill himself." Matt said.

"Tried many times, didn't work, but turns out getting ran the fuck over and getting his ribs smashed in and getting flattened is the way." Owen said.

Alex sighed, "Told the little kid not to do it, many times, did he stop? Nope, apparently suicide is the fucking answer, like he could have graduated and moved out shortly after, he would have been 18 by the time he graduated. Home conditions is why he did it, so then just wait to move out, but no…" Alex said.

"You know, me and Matt could somehow change the timeline of Caleb's universe, by per say, replace the Matt and Owen of that universe with ourselves for example, but I mean, is that something I really want to do? I could but, I like this universe too." Owen said.

"You shouldn't do that, we just want to see if Raven was telling the truth, about the multiverse, not fuck with the timeline." Alex said.

Owen laughed, "Barry don't fuck with the timeline."

They laughed, "Nah, too fucking late, already did." Alex said.

"What the fuck Barry!?" Owen joked, again, everyone laughed. "Ah shit this is great, we should do this more often, this could be our whole life, just driving around, hanging with each other, could go with that." Owen said.

"Oh fuck, remember that one joke we made, about SAO III?" Matt asked.

"The SAO III Kirito gets his fix of the wrong fucking drug, and gets knocked the fuck out, with a side of brain damage edition joke? And Billy Mays advertises SAO III and offers free bleach for those who find out that Kirito and Asuna won't have a baby yet." Owen said.

"Yes that one, that was fucking hilarious." Matt said.

Owen sighed, "Caleb made that one up…" Owen said. "Wait, oh please don't say-"

"Kirito ate a banana with his-" Matt said…

 **One Hour Later**

 **Mackenzie BC**

The four stepped out of the car before Alex parked beside the gas station at the only 7-11 in town.

"This place is small, and you were born here Owen?" Alex asked.

"Indeed, I remember each and every area of town, in fact, I used to walk everywhere in town the last time I came. Well, let's get a pizza, refill this ol' fucker, and then we'll go to the hotel they built most recently down from where we came into town and stay there." Owen said.

They walked in and paid for a pepperoni pizza, and soon, the pizza was done, and they got it, and the four also got slushies to go as well, and they drove to the hotel after Alex's car was refilled with gas. They entered and got their own rooms, and they slept there for the rest of the day.

 **July 19th 2018 - 10:00 AM**

Alex woke up to hear his phone ringing on the side table. He got a call from an unknown ID. Alex answered, wondering how they had his cellphone number.

"Hello?" Alex said.

"Once upon a time, four people drove to BC, gets a boat to Israel, and master godlike powers. You know what? I think I want those powers for myself, seeing as two of them have extra power." The man creepily whispered.

"Who the fuck is this and how did you get my number?" Alex interrogated.

"Claim the throne, and kill those that cannot be seen, then you will understand the art of universe traveling." The man whispered, again, creepily, and hung up.

Alex smashed the phone and went into Owen's room and said, "Wake up, get the others, we need to talk." Owen woke up and did so, and the group met up at a table on the first floor of the hotel. "Just got a fucked up call from some ass who knew we're going to Israel to master the power of universe traveling. He said he wants to kill Owen and Matt and claim the power for himself. He also said claim the throne and

kill those that cannot be seen. What the hell does that mean?" Alex said.

"I don't know, but if some asshole wants to kill me and Matt, I don't know what the fuck to do." Owen said.

Alex then leaned in towards them and whispered, "He could be here right now and be listening to us, we need to get into the car and sidetrack, so where should we go?"

"I think we should lay low in Vancouver, it's big, we should be safe there." Owen said. "If he is here, he might be following us, we could find him in the highway."

"Could be, though, I don't want to take the risks, he did sound awfully familiar. Let's just get to Vancouver before we get any attention." Alex said, getting up, and the other three followed him into the car and they drove to 7-11 to get food and extra gas. They then headed out to Vancouver.


	3. Prologue, Ch3

**July 19th 2018 - 11:13 AM**

The group went back into the car and headed for Vancouver, and Owen kept watch behind them for any suspicious activity, while Alex drove the car and Matt kept an eye on the GPS. They drove away, and a brown, dirty truck was behind them, and as well as a black Dodge Caravan. Owen took a look at who was in the truck, and he couldn't see who was in there, for a while anyways, later, he saw who it was, and he knew exactly who it was

"Kurt, oh do I wanna just fucking beat him to a pulp right here on the fucking road, I fucking hate him, and what the fuck is he doing following us?" Owen wondered. The Caravan drove on the other lane and sped past the cars. Alex stopped to the side of the road and so did the truck behind them, and soon, the man walked out, wielding a knife. Alex saw this and pulled out a 44. Magnum and hid it in his jacket and came out of the car.

"Hey Alex, my buddy, where's my old friends Matt and Owen?" Kurt asked, creepily.

"Holy shit, the kids turned from a complete fuckboy to a fucking psycho." Owen whispered.

"Stay the fuck down dude." Matt said.

Meanwhile, "You want Owen and Matt? Well, you'll have to pry 'em off my dead body. Come over here, in the woods, where no one can see us." Alex challenged.

"Oh, you think you can take me? I'm armed, you aren't." Kurt said.

"Could care less if I were armed or not, you are a joke to me, you couldn't even knock out a fly. Couldn't even bend a spoon with those arms of yours." Alex said.

"You wanna fucking find out!?" Kurt yelled.

Alex pulled out his 44. Magnum, shot Kurt in the head, hid the body in the closest ditch and covered it in grass and leaves. Alex then ran to the car and drove off.

"Anybody hear that?" Alex asked.

"No one came, and no one's behind us, and I can't see anyone back there so we should be good." Owen said.

"Fucking hell, you killed him for sure?" Matt asked.

"The fucker was gonna get it soon anyways. Caleb would've done it if he were alive to this day." Alex said.

"Well fuck yeah he would, Caleb hated the fuck out of his guts, and so did I, can't believe the fucker came to try and kill me and Matt he was a fucking pussy in high school." Owen said.

"Let's just forget about it and just drive to where we need to be." Alex said. He started driving again.

"We'll how long should it be until we get to Vancouver?" Owen asked.

"Should be 5 to 10 hours, I'm not sure." Alex said. "Just prepare for a fucking long ride."

Owen leaned back in his seat and put a pair of earbuds in his ear connected to his phone and said, "A long fucking ride it is."

 **8 Hours Later**

Matt parked the car in the parking lot of a hotel, and the other three woke up. "Wakey wakey guy's, time to eat and then go to bed."

Owen rubbed his eyes and checked the time. "Wow, fell asleep for that long? I'm kinda surprised myself, I can hardly sleep during the day." Owen said.

"C'mon, let's get something to eat, I'm fucking starving." Alex said, as him and Matt got out of the car, Owen did so as well and followed them into the hotel restaurant. They were seated and they checked the menu.

"So what are you guy's getting?" Owen asked.

"Steak, and some poutine." Alex said.

"I'm not sure yet." Matt said.

"I'm gonna get a burger, and onion rings, just because I can't think of anything else." Owen said.

"I'll just get the same thing as you then." Matt said.

They waited, and soon, the waiter came and asked for their orders, they gave the waiter their orders, and before she left, she asked everyone what they wanted to drink.

"Coffee." Alex said.

"Water." Owen said.

"Iced tea." Matt said.

The waiter took the orders and left. "Raven couldn't possibly be invisible at the moment, right?" Owen said, wondering where Raven was.

* _No animals in the restaurant, though, they never said anything about invisible animals being in the restaurant.*_ Raven said.

"Now if they find out they're gonna make that a rule." Owen joked. "Anyways, if we train out anywhere else either than Israel, then could we still master our powers?"

* _It would take a very long time to master one of the simplest powers outside of Israel because it is much connected to God and he would happily help you there, unlike some areas in the city he definitely wouldn't want to see you in and trying to master your powers.*_ Raven said.

"So how long will it take to master the power compared to in Edmonton or Isreal?" Owen asked.

 _*In Edmonton, about 20 to 30 years even with your gift, and in Israel, about 1 to 3 Months, though, your gift is powerful, you've held the body for much a long time and it would take you two about less than 1 month. Israel is a powerful place to learn divine powers provided by God, for those who have the divine gift, like you do.*_ Raven said.

"That works for me, as long as we got a place to stay for the month there. I'm really interested into what Kurt said about claiming the throne and killing the ones that cannot be seen." Owen wondered.

* _The dead throne. Alex could claim it, but it would be a challenge, but that's what Kurt meant by the throne. If Alex could claim the throne, he could gain the knowledge we need to travel universes by will.*_ Raven said.

"If that's what he meant then, will you do it Alex?" Owen asked.

"Fuck it, might as well, though, we need to focus on getting you and Matt to Israel, I will claim this throne, wherever it is." Alex said.

* _In the nether, and there's a temple inside of Israel that has entrances to the 9 realms of what humans know from norse mythology, the Nether, Hell, and Heaven. Only those who've died can enter heaven or hell, but as for the 9 realms, only people with the gift Owen and Matt has can enter, or, people who died. The nether has been closed as well and only very few souls are allowed to enter, though, Alex's soul is capable to go through. People who chose Heaven after death can go to other worlds, and it doesn't matter old they are.*_ Raven said.

"This is weird, so we just have to find this temple, and then get Alex into the nether to claim the throne, and then when he comes back, we train to learn the power of universe traveling." Owen said.

Raven simply nodded, and the waiter came with everyone's food and drinks. She dished them out and left.

"Well good thing Raven knew what Kurt meant, otherwise we'd be going to Israel for no reason." Matt said.

"He would have told us even without Kurt anyways, that's why I shot the prick, because he's an annoying bastard and serves me no purpose." Alex said.

"Exactly, he never served a purpose, he just went and did his own thing and pissed people off doing it." Matt said.

They finished eating 10 minutes later. "That was good, so, we got the keys to the rooms, let's go, and we'll get the boat tomorrow." Owen said. They left the restaurant and went into their rooms and went to bed.

 **July 20th 2018 - 10:31 AM**

Matt got up to hear his phone ringing. It was a conference call between Owen, Alex, and Matt. Matt answered.

"Good, you guy's are awake. Meet me in the car and we'll be good to go to get that boat." Alex said, before he hung up.

Matt got up and got his stuff and went to the car and hopped in the front with Alex. "We gotta get this ol' fucker loaded up with gas and then we'll be heading over to the docks." Alex said, starting the car and started driving.

"So Raven, tell me about the 9 realms and why they exist." Owen said.

* _Many humans believe in a religion of which God created a planet free of sin, and put two people on that very planet, Adam and Eve. A fallen angel referred to as Satan, or simply, the Devil, told one of whom God first created to eat a fruit God told them specifically not to eat, and so one of them ate it and thus created sin on this planet, but that's not what happened, God created this universe first and created the 9 realms from what humans know as Norse Mythology, and as well as his own sons and daughters, the gods and goddesses from Norse mythology who can create more gods, example, Thor, the God of Thunder, ruler of Asgard, son of Odin, another Norse God, created by the almighty high God, creator of all things, or, just God is what everyone calls him.*_ Raven said.

"Man, that's quite a lot of shit you shoved into my brain just now, so me and Matt can visit the 9 realms?" Owen asked.

* _That is if you want to.*_ Raven said.

Owen sighed, "What's currently happening in Caleb's universe?" He asked.

* _His soul is put into that universe in 2022 and right now he isn't in it, though, it seems like Alex here went on an expedition in that universe to claim the dead throne, just like we're doing here, and the Owen in that universe is currently trying to move into Japan.*_ Raven said.

"Okay then..." Owen said.


	4. Prologue, Ch4

**July 20th 2018 - 3:24**

 **Vancouver - British Columbia**

"And we're here, and I already got VIP tickets for us bought earlier to get on the boat, and we'll have a nice four bedroom living area." Alex said. They got out of the car and walked over to the entrance, where they handed in their tickets and they got on the boat.

They went into the room Alex was talking about and Owen sat down. "How long should it take to get to Israel at the slow ass speed this boat goes?" He asked, opening the mini fridge by the couch and pulling out a beer.

"About two weeks, though, as much as the boat is more a resort boat and not much of a get the fuck to this one place as fast as fucking possible boat. We should have decent fun here, I mean look, you got a beer in your hands right now, in fact I'm gonna have some myself." Alex said.

Alex sat down and Owen passed him a bottle. "At least I'm away from my house where all my siblings are, still can't wait to get a place of my own." Owen said.

Alex turned on the tv and changed the channels looking for something. "Fucking hell, there's nothing good on here." Alex said, angrily, changing the channels still, until he shortly turned it off.

"No good TV I guess, though, I did bring my laptop, do you guy's have one?" Owen asked.

"I brought mine actually." Matt said.

"I bought one." Alex said.

 **August 11th 2018 - 6:42**

"Well would you look at that, we're here." Matt said, looking out the window. The others came to see and they walked outside the room and saw they were coming to the dock and they stopped there, everyone got off the boat and Alex took the group where they needed to be.

They arrived at the temple, and they entered and saw 11 arch's that were blocked by the sandstone brick wall of the building. Raven then activated a spell which opened up the portals.

* _Alex, we should be heading into the nether to get that throne claimed, and Owen, you go into Heaven and ask for God's assistance with Matt.*_ Raven said.

Alex proceeded through the portal to the Nether, Owen and Matt went through the portal to Heaven. Owen and Matt were met with a staircase, and they all walked up and were met with a man wearing a white robe. "You guy's aren't dead yet, are you?" The robed man asked.

"No, just had a bird open the portal in Israel and I just wanted to ask for your assistance, God." Owen said.

God was surprised, "What is it you want assistance for?" He asked.

"I want to know how to travel universes by will and I know me and Matt here have the capabilities required to learn how to learn it." Owen said.

"Actually, you did have that power, until it was given to someone else." God said.

"Someone else? Who?" Owen asked.

"Caleb Kumar of Universe A was reincarnated into a universe, I called Universe B, and Owen Snow and Matthew Haltz retrieved that power in that universe when the original Caleb Kumar of Universe B died, thus, had to take the capabilities you and Matt had and gave it to them. If you want to gain that power again, you must find an amulet in Asgard in order to gain that power now." God said.

"Okay, so I have to go to Asgard, find some kind of amulet, and then I should be able to learn the power, right?" Owen asked.

"Yes, and there is only one amulet, but you can take Matt to other universes with you." God said.

"That works, so, mind bringing me back? Those stairs were high." Owen asked.

God nodded and clapped, and their visions went black and soon they opened their eyes, and they were on the floor of the temple…

 **Meanwhile, in the Nether**

Alex sighed, "Where the fuck is this throne?" Alex said, walking through a hallway with a torch in his hand. He directed his attention to a door he saw to the left and opened the door and saw a blade hung on the wall, a khopesh. "Fuck yes, now I know there's going to be shit to fight." Alex said, walking over to the khopesh and taking it by the handle and exited the room and continued down the hall.

* _Stop, there's a trapdoor.*_ Raven warned, Alex stopped, and Raven activated the trap and flew over the hole that was revealed, along with a few monsters down inside, and Raven created a magic platform, and Alex continued down the hallway.

"I wonder where that throne is, and who the fuck is on it. Whoever it is, they're gonna be dead pretty quickly here if this hallway didn't seem endless." Alex said.

* _Master, would you like me to create a shortcut right here?*_ Raven asked.

"Why didn't you do that before? Yes make a fucking shortcut." Alex demanded, and Raven used his dark magic to break the wall to their left, and revealed a room with a demon sitting on the throne they were looking for. Alex ran in and charged the demon and swung his khopesh at him, though, the demon pulled out a magic staff that was sitting beside the throne and blocked the strike. The demon pointed the tip of the staff at Alex and fired a beam of light at Alex, though, Alex swung his khopesh in front of the light quickly enough that the light reflected to the demon's foot, melting away at it. Alex used this as a distraction and decapitated the demon swiftly.

Alex sheathed his khopesh and brushed his shirt and looked to the throne. "Not too hard, was that now Raven?"

 **Two Hours Later - Earth**

Alex exited the portal and saw Owen and Matt, getting up from the floor. "What the hell were you doing sleeping on the job for?" Alex asked.

"I have to go to Asgard and find an amulet instead, another me from another universe took my power." Owen said. It was then, Raven's eyes started glowing as he stared at Owen, but then he stopped.

* _It's true, it was taken from him, though something seems off.*_ Raven said, it was then, everyone saw four figures wearing cloaks, one wore a full black one, one wore a black and red one, one wore a black and green one, and one wore full body armour.

"It was him, the one in the black and green and the full body armour, they took it." Alex mumbled.

The vision dispersed, and they all sat down. * _Now that Alex claimed the throne, he should be able to go to each of the nine realms, and God has given Owen, and Matt a way for them to enter without the gifts they had, since it was taken from them somehow.*_ Raven said.

"Then let's get into Asgard, find that amulet, and we'll be good to master that power." Owen said. They walked through the portal to Asgard and they were met with a huge rainbow bridge, they walked across, though, a man with a hammer in his hands landed in front of the group, Thor, the God of Thunder.

"What is the meaning of this? Who let you in?" Thor asked.

"God himself, it's for an important item we need, an amulet." Owen said.

Thor looked amongst the group and noticed Alex claimed the dead throne, whereas the other two were granted entry. "An amulet? What sort of amulet would you be looking for?" Thor asked.

"God said I'm going to have to find an amulet in order to complete my goal, and that is to travel universes by will, and he said it is in here." Owen said.

"Hmm, I think the amulet ended up somewhere in the Nether, though, you'll have to have it taken to me after, because it would have a dark power imbued in it that God wouldn't touch until its cleansed." Thor said.

Owen grumbled, "All right then." They walked the other way and went through the portal. "So we gotta go to the Nether now and get the amulet, give it to Thor and he will have it cleansed. Why would God tell us to go to Asgard to get the Amulet?"

* _If it ended up in the Nether, then God would not know of it's location, due to the fact that God keeps his worries outside of the Nether.*_ Raven said.

"Well let's get the amulet before some asshole takes it." Matt said. The others nodded and walked through the portal to the nether.


	5. Prologue, Ch5

**August 11th 2018 - 7:24**

 **The Nether**

They entered and were met with a cave, and saw a girl having trouble fending off a group of monsters, Alex recklessly charged them and killed them using his khopesh, saving the girl.

"Oh right, forgot you guys didn't have weapons." Alex said, he turned to the girl, "You all right?" Alex said to the girl.

"Y-yeah I'm good. Didn't know much others had the approval of going here." She said.

"Those three were given entry by God to retrieve an amulet, and me, well, I took the dead throne not too long ago actually." Alex said.

"You took it!?" She asked.

"Yeah, I had to." Alex said.

"Hmm, whatever, my name is Synthia, what's your guy's'?" She asked.

"I'm Alex, and over there is Owen, and Matt." Alex said. "Now you wouldn't mind helping us find this amulet do you?"

"I'll help you guy's, but we should get these three some weapons, come with me, I'll show you to your manor." Synthia said.

"My manor?" Alex asked.

"Yes silly, you claimed the throne, now you get a big house in here, we should be able to find some weapons stored in display for these three." Synthia said. She led them to the house she was talking about and they entered. "Welcome to the Netharian Hall."

"Ooh, fancy." Owen said.

"Let me take you to the weapons display hall and we should be able to find these guys some weapons." Synthia said. She took them to another room and they saw blades and weapons of all kinds displayed on the huge wall of the room. "Well, pick what suits your fancy."

The three looked, Matt picked out a Warhammer, Owen picked out a Longsword, and Alex picked out a bow.

"All right then, well, let's go find that amulet, what kind of amulet was it?" Synthia asked.

"It's supposed to give people magical capabilities as they wear it." Alex said.

"Oh, that one, the Godborn amulet, supposed to give you the power to master god's powers like a Godborn, making it faster to master powers." Synthia said.

"Well let's get moving." Matt said.

 **20 Minutes Later**

The group were walking through a dungeon and Synthia led them through with a torch in her hand. They walked through the empty and long hallway until they found a room at the end, they entered and a man wielding a staff turned and pointed it at the group.

"Might I ask why a bunch of kids are roaming around?" The man asked.

"Shit, it's, Loki, God of Mischief." Owen whispered.

"Uh oh..." Synthia muttered.

"Yeah, I think we're fucked." Matt said.

"Hello!? Am I talking to a brick wall!?" Loki yelled.

"Well, not exactly, I just have nothing to say, though, Alex here has a lot of anger pent up in him, and I see you're fondling that little amulet we're looking for, so Alex's gonna give you a mouthful, and maybe a sword through the skull." Owen said.

"Hmm, the one who just took the dead throne, might I ask, do you even know how to use your power?" Loki questioned.

"What, this Necro power here?" Alex asked, summoning a Necro ball in his other hand his Khopesh isn't in.

Loki smirked, "You want the amulet, you'll have to pry it off my dead body!" He said, before Thor broke through the ceiling and stood in front of the group, facing Loki.

"Now, hand over the amulet before matters get worse." Thor said.

Loki stuttered, though, Thor decided to deal with this one the hard way, he walked over to Loki and took the amulet and passed it over to Owen.

"Get out of here now!" Thor said, as Loki swung his staff at Thor.

They started running, and heard the place crumble behind them, giving them a reason to run faster, they sped through the dungeon as quickly as they could and they luckily escaped before the rest of the dungeon was crushed.

"Fuck, I hope Thor got out of there alive." Owen said. Synthia was in a state of shock, "Oh c'mon, that was actually pretty fun, now let's get back to the hall and take a look at the amule- oh wait a minute here, if Thor was just either crushed in there or escaped and now is looking for Loki if he did as well, then what?" Owen wondered.

"Shit, it's not cleansed yet, forgot. Can't God cleanse it though?" Alex asked.

 _*Not likely.*_ Raven said.

"Then let's go check the other portals. Now before we go, Synthia, I know this might seem like a huge favour I'm asking, but, will you help us? This is turning out to become more and more difficult and I don't know how we're ever going to accomplish our goal without you and it would be great if you could join us." Owen said.

Synthia thought for a moment, later she decided, "All right, I'll come." She said.

Owen smiled, "Thank you." He said, and they continued to the portal back to the temple.

They walked out and Owen pulled out his phone to check the time, it was 8 in the morning already. "How is it 8 already?" He asked to Raven.

 _*Time sped up while we were in Asgard and time slowed down while we were in the Nether. Now, choose our next realm, Owen.*_ Raven said.

Owen thought about where to go, there was Asgard, they went there already, there was Alfheim, Niflheim, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Midgard/Earth, Muspelheim, Svartalfheim, and Hel. Owen knew Hel was often treated as another location in Niflheim, and plus, Niflheim was checked off the list because it was home to the dishonourable, they could not cleanse the amulet there. Owen thought about Vanaheim and remembered it was home to a group of gods, associated with foresight, fertility, and wisdom, he decided to go there.

"We will go to Vanaheim." Owen concluded.


	6. Prologue, Ch6

**August 12th 2018**

 **Vanaheim - 12:24**

"I think you picked a bad place, I mean, I thought Vanaheim would be all nice and shit myself, but, there's dust flying at our faces." Alex said.

"Raven, can you tell me what gods are in this realm currently?" Owen asked.

 _*Loki is here, of course, looking for Thor, and we may be able to find Thor here, but, we should see if Loki gets his attention first.*_ Raven said.

"We should be cautious though, Loki was known to be traveling universes himself, and he may have some kind of power we don't know of." Synthia said.

Suddenly, a cold tip of a blade touched Owen's neck, and the man behind him said, "There there, that's enough. I want that Godborn amulet right now, and we can both walk away from this."

Owen thought, he couldn't just give up the amulet, the sole purpose for the expedition, but he couldn't let Loki just take the amulet for himself. "This is not negotiable, I suppose?" Owen asked.

"The only thing I want is that amulet, or you're gonna have to die for it, only for me to take it." Loki said.

* _I'm trying to contact Thor, or anyone, just, keep him talking*_ Raven said, for only Owen to hear.

"I mean you could kill me right now, but, if you do, these four here are gonna at least take the damned amulet from you." Owen said.

"That's right! I can just kill you now, and these three! How could they face a god like me?" Loki questioned. Loki kicked him to the ground and held his scepter above his neck and asked, "Any last words?"

"Words? As words are spoken, time fades, and when someone is tracking another, it's only a matter of time until they find who they are looking for, so you best be ready." Owen said.

Loki stopped for a moment and thought, "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Owen looked up and saw lightning flashing in the distance, he knew Thor was coming soon, and that was because Raven had contacted him. "Well, looks like your best brother survived the collapse of the dungeon back in the nether." Owen said, Loki grunted and proceeded to kill Owen on the spot, though, Owen rolled to the left and drew his Longsword and blocked the scepter from stabbing anything he could at this point, and Thor landed on the ground just then, and Loki turned to him.

"Losing to a mortal I see?" Thor mocked.

"I didn't lose, and he sure as hell didn't win either! Not until I get that amulet or I die!" Loki yelled.

"It doesn't have to be this way, but fine, you've pushed me far enough, you four, run away, this will get dangerous." Thor warned, and the four ran off to a hill and watched the two gods fight.

"You all right? You could have died just then, I was worried." Synthia asked.

"I'm fine, I just needed to keep him busy before Thor showed up." Owen said.

They watched the two fight for 15 minutes, until something terrible happened, not something Thor intended to do, but Thor had sent Loki flying towards a large spiked hill, and Loki was stabbed through his chest. The group of four gasped, "He's not dead is he?" Synthia asked.

"Last I checked, Loki didn't get killed like this, in fact I'm sure he can't die like that." Owen said.

The four ran over to Thor and Loki, it seemed Loki had already died, and Thor could only mourn. "Dammit Loki, why must you make me do these things." Thor said, he couldn't live with the fact he killed his brother.

"Are you sure that's really him, and he's dead?" Matt asked.

Thor got up and said, "It was, and he is dead for sure. Well, I got you that amulet, but with what I did just now, I don't think I can cleanse it, as God would have to take that power away, all I could do now is use this hammer's powers but not as much god powers, he would have to punish me in some way."

"I know it wasn't your fault son, now let me take a look at that amulet." A man wearing a white robe said behind them all, startling the others.

"It is my fault, don't you see? I killed him." Thor said.

"That's fine, it was an accident, I can just bring him back anyways." God said, he held his palm out towards Loki and a bright light emitted from God's palm and soon, Loki's injuries were healed and Loki woke up.

"W-where am I?" Loki asked.

"You are in Vanaheim, Thor killed you, accidentally, I came to bring you back and see if I can cleanse this amulet." God said.

Loki got up, and Thor handed God the amulet, and as soon as he touched it, the stone in the amulet turned from Purple, to Blue, and glowed brightly. "I can cleanse this sort of stuff easily, nothing like this can hurt me." God said. God handed Owen the amulet and he put it on, and then, God held both his hands skyward and a ball of glowing light formed, and soon dispersed and revealed a blade, which God grasped and handed it to Owen. "You are about to go on a great adventure, I suggest you take this, it is called Dáinsleif, this one however is not demonic, like the other one, forged by the dwarves and kills upon a single slight cut. You are free to use this for self defense purposes only, and whoever is killed by it must have been trying to kill you, and if not, I will take the blade back and will have to use that normal and basic blade." God said, handing over the blade, a sheath quickly formed in Owen's other hand, and so Owen hooked the sheath to his left part of his waist.

"I suggest you dual weild them together, in fact, I suggest I bind a magical enchantment over to that other blade you have there, you come up with one yourself." God said.

Owen thought about it, he finished and snapped his finger and said, "An Ice enchant, and whenever I please I want to be able to shoot beams from it, nothing more." Owen said.

God nodded and Owen unsheathed his other sword and handed it to God and he put a powerful enchantment of which Owen requested. "There, you should give it a name, as the blade will soon be known is mythologies of all the worlds." God said.

"All right, Fryz, that's what I'll call it, F-r-y-z, just so it won't spell the same as the actual word freeze, just so it'll stand out." Owen said. God handed the blade over to Owen and he sheathed it.

"It will take such a long time to master a power like universal traveling, so, you might as well take that Ice sword and Dáinsleif, to protect yourself." God said.

Owen nodded, and the group's visions went white…

 **August 12th 2018**

 **Earth - 3:54**

Owen awoke in his bed at home, he could barely see, but when his vision got together, he saw Raven sitting on his dresser. "What are you doing here?" Owen asked.

* _Remember that girl you saw in that first vision I showed you? The one with the pink hair.*_ Raven asked.

"Um, yes I do, her name is Rika, she's in the universe that Caleb decided to go to, right?" Owen asked.

* _Yes, he asked to be reincarnated into an SAO universe where Suguha Kirigaya and Shino Asada are trapped in SAO, he meets you inside SAO after he formed a guild called the Shadow Wolf Clan.*_ Raven said.

"Okay but, what about Rika, why did you start talking about her?" Owen asked.

Raven created a portal and saw two people standing by one side of a bridge, and a girl crying and hiding behind the other side of the bridge. * _If you could come with me through this portal, you'd be happy.*_ Raven said.

Owen looked at Raven confusedly, until he looked closer though the portal and saw himself, standing by one who donned a black cloak, Kirito, the black swordsman. "All right, make sure they can't see us or hear us so we don't fuck up the timeline." Owen said. They walked through and sat back, they couldn't hear what they were saying. "Raven, I can't hear what they are saying, what's the point of being here if we can't hear?" Owen asked.

 _*Sometimes it's not about hearing, it's about seeing.*_ Raven said.

Owen sighed and noticed that the Owen of that universe started talking and the pink haired girl turned to him. Owen gasped, and the pink haired girl ran up to the other Owen and grasped him in a hug.

* _You have much at stake in this universe, not only are you angry for a young girl murdered by Laughing Coffin, and want to avenge her at all costs, but you also have to protect Rika with all your life.*_ Raven said.

"They love each other, is that what I'm seeing? I thought she liked Kirito…" Owen said.

* _That is true, but you and her formed a great friendship, after she found out about Asuna and Kirito, she came here, and you two came here as well to see if she was okay, well it seemed she thought you were a better choice, even though you were a bloodthirsty mercenary who fought for nothing but a young girl you wished to avenge.*_ Raven said.

"Why would she fall for a killer? He's not like me, you called him bloodthirsty." Owen said.

* _She knew you were doing it for a friend's death, and not because you were a killer, you killed because the ones you killed were ones who are part of Laughing Coffin, to be precise, a user named Red Eyed XaXa killed your friend, whose name was Platia, which is why you want to wipe them out, and nothing more.*_ Raven said.

"So, he killed her, I know who that is, a while after SAO is cleared, he starts killing players by shooting them with a type 54 black star in a game, GGO, and when the player is shot, another man in the victim's apartment injects a lethal drug into their system, that will stop their heart. God, Caleb's gone changed the timeline quite a lot." Owen asked.

* _Not precisely, more like he's creating a new timeline, but he's also doing his best to make sure that the basic timeline events from the anime happen, that way it's not completely different.*_ Raven said, who opened the portal again.

"If you can open portals like this that we can go through to visit universes, then why don't you take me there yourself?" Owen asked.

 _*We aren't in that universe right now, we're only seeing it, I can't truly bring you to another universe, you have to use the amulet.*_ Raven said.

They walked through the portal, and Raven disappeared behind Owen and he went onto his bed and fell asleep.


	7. Prologue, Ch7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **September 17th 2019**

 **Owen's House - 6:32 PM**

Owen was eating dinner at his parents home, over the past hear he has been researching through different mythologies looking for whatever he could find about the multiverse, though, he couldn't find anything, he decided to consult God again for his help to figure out how to master the power he seeked to gain, he helped him start, and Owen would have to figure out the rest, and he managed to master the power halfway, and Raven once told him if he used the power before he mastered it, he could possibly die.

"Hey, I'm asking you something, Earth to Owen, you there?" Owen's youngest sister asked.

Owen shook his head and said, "Sorry, just spaced out is all, what were you asking?"

"I was asking where you got that amulet, and why is it glowing?" She asked.

"What, I never told you Evania? I just found it while I was gone, and I thought it looked cool, it's not glowing it's just, the light in the room is being reflected off it." Owen said.

"Oh, then what was that blue glow coming from your room? I walked by last night and saw it, I didn't bother to look." Evania asked.

"Um, that was, my phone." Owen lied. He finished eating and his phone started ringing, he checked and saw Alex's contact calling him. "I'll be right back." Owen said. He got up the living room and answered and said, "Hey."

*It's Raven, not Alex, he's sleeping, I want you to go to the park behind your house, I will meet you there.* Raven said.

The call ended there and Owen put his phone away and said, "I'm gonna go head out for a moment, I'll be back." Owen said to everyone at the dinner table, they all nodded and Owen went out and headed to where Raven told him to. He sat on a bench, for a bit. He waited, then something strange happened, the environment around him became black and white and everyone froze in place.

Owen looked to the side and saw a girl, who was moving and wasn't black and white, this startled Owen, but shortly after he pulled himself together and said, "I know I'm seeing things, and that you aren't really here."

"Really? I thought I was seeing things." She said.

"Um, can you take my hand? Just so I don't think I'm crazy, and that I'm seeing things?" Owen asked, moving his hand up.

"Um, okay then." She said, she took his hand without noticing anything strange. They let go shortly after.

"Well I guess you really are here, look, I was actually expecting a talking bird, yeah, call me crazy but, I mean I could care less if anyone called me crazy. Listen, I'm actually not of your universe, and, I'm not sure how you got into mine, and I know exactly who you are, because in this universe, SAO was only a light novel series, and an anime." Owen said.

"If you're sure, tell me who I am then, because honestly, I don't know where I am and how I got here, if you know who I am I can believe you." She said.

"Rika Shinozaki, that's who you are, I mean think about that, you are a main character of a light novel series, and an anime in my universe, a lot of people here know you." Owen said.

"I-I don't know what to say, but hey, what's your name? I feel if you know mine I should know yours." Rika said.

"Owen Snow." He said.

* _Well, it seems you two gotten along quite nicely._ * Raven said, behind Owen and Rika, who were startled.

"Well, there's the talking bird I was telling you about." Owen said.

* _Owen, before you go to Caleb's universe, you should go to another SAO universe to practice your sword skills, also seeing as you have two blades, I'm gonna have to find out a way for you to get the dual wielding skill, as it's only given to those Kayaba deems worthy._ * Raven said.

"Okay, but, what did you bring Rika here for?" Owen asked.

* _Just seeing if you two would get along, though, I don't think I needed to do this little test on you two anyways, seeing as you two fall for each other in another universe._ * Raven said.

"Wait a minute, if Caleb got into that universe by dying, could you like, kill me, forcing me to go to another universe of my choice?" Owen asked.

"That's crazy! Why would you purposefully get yourself killed to go another universe?" Rika asked.

* _He could go back to Israel and master his power in a week, compared to having to wait another few years._ * Raven said.

"Power? What kind of power does he have?" Rika asked.

* _That amulet Owen is wearing gives him magical capabilities, and he can go to Israel to master that power quicker than he could here, by that power, I mean the power to travel universes by will, Rika, when you wake up, you won't remember what happened, Owen here however will, now, I will send you back Rika, for I must speak to Owen in private._ * Raven said. She nodded, and she faded away, * _My master has instructed me to take orders from you from now on, now, I will transport you back to Israel for you to master your power, then, I will notify everyone you know that you are going, and then you will go to an SAO universe, you will be 15 again and it will be 2022 and two days before the launch of SAO. You need to go, so that you are prepared to go into the universe Caleb resides in._ *

"Okay, but then, truthfully, why did you bring Rika here? Is it because you believe that we'll, you know, get together in that universe? Because if that's the case then I can't just leave her, I'd be a dick if I did that." Owen said.

* _I took her here because yes, you two will get together, that is if you ever find her in SAO. You can leave a universe for 5 years and go back to your previous at the time you left, making it seem like you never even left at all._ * Raven said.

"All right then, so, by all means, just take me to Israel and let's master this power." Owen said.

* _Hold on, before, you should get your two blades, Dáinsleif and Fryz, I can put them into SAO as their own entities but I can't if I don't have the blades._ * Raven said.

"All right then." Owen said, and suddenly, everything started moving again, Owen checked his watch and the watch hasn't passed by a second. Owen got up and walked to his house again, and opened his closet. He kept a safe in there with his swords inside. Raven opened a portal to the temple in Israel and Owen got his swords and they went through the portal.

 **September 24th 2019**

 **Israel - 11 Worlds Temple - 12:09**

Owen has been training his power for a week now, it was finally complete, he was able to travel universes by will now with no risk of dying. He was about to open a portal to the SAO universe, only before a man behind him said, "Well look at you, you've done it."

It was God, Owen turned to him and asked, "So, you need anything? I was just about to start preparing myself for Caleb's universe."

"Actually, I need you to do me a favour." God said, he pulled out an amulet from behind his robe, it was gold, and the stone was diamond, and shimmered in the light beautifully. "When you find Caleb, give this to him, I don't know how much longer I can last."

"What!? What do you mean, are you dying!? That's impossible!" Owen said.

God sighed, "I'm dying, very slowly, you know that there's an ongoing war between me and my angels and Satan and his demons, fallen angels, and such, right?" God asked.

"Yes, but, you can't be serious, right? You can't be dying, this is crazy." Owen said.

"I want you to give that amulet to him, he is my final champion, the gods are going at each other on a full on war, there needs to be one last god that can create anything, God of Creation, if the gods are gone, Satan will take over everything and cause unholy chaos, and I do not want that day to come." God said.

Owen sighed, "I guess I should do that first before I do anything." He said. God handed the amulet to him and faded away, Owen got rid of the portal he previously summoned and replaced it with a portal leading to Caleb's universe. He walked through.


	8. Prologue, Ch8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

Before Owen walked through the portal, he said to Raven, "I have a feeling I might need an extra guy to come along, it might be dangerous."

* _Shall I bring Matt over here?*_ Raven asked.

"Sure, give him a weapon or something too." Owen said.

Raven then summoned Matt, he held a sword. He looked around confusedly and asked, "What's going on?"

"Come with me, we need to give this amulet to Caleb." Owen said.

"You mastered it? Well fuck, let's go." Matt said, sheathing his blade.

They went though and they were met with a group of friends watching something together. They saw their clothing and knew they were inside a game, and Owen realized he interrupted them and said "Ahh! I'm sorry! Wait…" He stared at his old friend, Caleb.

"Owen? But wait, there's two… What universe are you from?" Caleb demanded.

"We came from the universe you died in originally, God told that to us himself, and he even gave us this Amulet, he told us to give it to you."Matt B said.

"So, what does it do?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know, but he said that you should put it on." Owen said.

"You are a retard, but okay, will do," Caleb said as he took the amulet. As he put it on however, everyone noticed his eyes glowing pure white, and they took a step back, but then a figure, dressed in white appeared, and Caleb stopped glowing and he instantly recognized the figure.

"Don't look now, but that is God standing right before you." Caleb said, surprising the others.

"Wait, really?!" The other Owen exclaimed.

God, however, didn't even appear to notice the other's and his next words explained why, "Caleb, you came as a champion of God, and now, it is time to transcend that title, When I had sent you here, I was dying, and I chose to make you a champion of God, but, that's because you were cunning, you knew what you want, and now you have it and more, The amulet you are wearing contains the rest of my soul, it is time for you to become something more, it is time for you to become a God."

"Wait, me?" Caleb said, he was stunned.

"You may remain where you wish, but unlike before, you have all the power I once possessed, and you now can control any power you wish, as well as give any power to anyone whom you deem worthy, you are now the God of creation." God then dissipated into thin air, the particles that was the proof he was there was quickly scattering.

The group hesitated before on voice rang true, "What the fuck was that!" Artemis screamed into the air.

"S-so I should probably head back home now, Raven here said he was gonna take me to my own SAO universe to prepare me for this one and whatever universes I go to, and, everyone looks different, somewhat, something's off about everyone." Owen said.

Caleb laughed, "So Alex from that universe decided to give you Raven? I thought there was one Raven. Oh yes, I should say, right now it is 2032 in this universe, and we are in a game called Fate's Hand Online, well, it's another death game, what we feared, another one, even nastier and more difficult than SAO." Caleb said.

"Well shit, well then if I'm gonna be here I should call you guy's by your usernames, and don't worry, I know most of them." Owen said.

"I can help you with that, well, here you are, the version of you in this universe, Oblivion, then Matt, or Nero, the big one in full body armor who could probably knock Mike Tyson out in one punch, Alex died, a hero in fact. Let's see, the one with light blue hair with dark blue streaks is Fiana, I'm sure you recognize your sister, who unfortunately got caught up in all of this, her name is Ionea in game, oh, Yuuki was cured of her AIDS, thanks to a team of scientists my family funded heavily, also thanks to God who allowed my request to have a rich and caring family, and then there's the ol' crew, Kirito, Asuna, Klein, Liz, Silica, Agil, Sinon, and Leafa, and the Sleeping Knights didn't get trapped it seems. And there's also two more, Roxas and Arthegus, new guys, they have their own guild. And mine is Artemis, and it's nice to finally talk to my old friend again, from my universe, though, Oblivion can be just as much as an idiot as you." Artemis said, laughing.

"Oh, you shush, would you? I'm not an idiot, and he probably isn't either, in fact, I was told he was a war hero. I mean look at me now, do you really think an idiot could travel universes?" Owen asked.

"I'm kidding, just bringing back old memories is all, also there is something you could help us with, hey Liz and Oblivion, you guy's have an extra bedroom in your house, right?" Artemis asked, they simply nodded. "Owen will need a place to stay until he finishes the job, and, ooh, what's this?" Artemis asked, looking at Owen's two blades, specifically Dáinsleif. "You got Dáinsleif? How the fuck did you get that? That's in the throne room of gods!"

"How the fuck did you know that?!" Owen asked, shocked.

"I know everything about norse mythology, how else?" Artemis replied.

"God gave it to me, must've been for a reason, whatever reason that is it's unclear." Owen said.

"Wow, now we have three dual wielders." Lisbeth said.

"Wait, three? Who's the third?" Owen asked.

"Me, I got dual wielding in SAO as well." Artemis said, he stretched out and yawned, "Well, Oblivion, Liz, you should take Owen to your place and show him to that room, it's getting late, so everyone, let's go home."

"I'm gonna head back to my universe, whoever wants this sword can have it, it ain't mine." Matt said, placing the sword on the table everyone was sitting at, he walked through the portal Owen created for him and he went home. Lisbeth and Oblivion waited for him, and when he was ready, they showed him around a bit, and then they went to their house.

"Wow, this place ain't that bad, how much did it cost?" Owen asked.

"Nothing, we built it, the game has a build engine." Lisbeth said.

"Amazing." Owen said. He yawned shortly after.

"You must be tired, I sure am. Follow me, I'll take you to the extra bedroom." Oblivion said. He followed Oblivion to the extra room, and Owen went in.

"Well, g'night guys." Owen said to the both of them. They said goodnight and they closed the door, Owen went to bed not long after.

 **The Next Day**

Owen woke up, took a look at his surroundings, and remembered he was in Caleb's universe. He got out to see Lisbeth and Oblivion having breakfast.

"You hungry?" Oblivion asked.

"Yeah, though, technically I'm not in this game as an actual player, so I'm not sure if it'll satisfy my hunger." Owen said.

"Might as well find out by trying." Oblivion said, he went into his fridge and picked out a melon slice and handed it to Owen, they both sat down at the table.

"So how's life?" Owen asked the two.

"Oh not too bad, except for the parts where I'm throwing up and feel sick." Lisbeth said.

"What? Throwing up? You okay?" Owen asked.

Oblivion and Lisbeth laughed, "Well, actually, we're having an in-game baby, and the V-Sphere thing which is the rig we're using is capable of replicating quite a bit more than the Nervegear or Amusphere has." Oblivion explained.

"Oh, well, congrats. Oh yeah, what did Artemis need help with?" Owen asked.

"There's a murder guild called Death's Hand, he needs a group to go out and check out a camp somewhere on the map." Oblivion said. "He also said he was going to send me with you guy's. If you can get the other Matt here as well, he can help."

"Quite an unoriginal name if you ask me, they just took the name of this exact game, and just replaced a single word with their own." Owen said.

Oblivion sighed, "They are pretty dangerous though, in fact this one's even bigger than Laughing Coffin, and PoH, the former leader of that guild is the leader of Death's Hand. We all thought he was dead but, turns out, that was false." He said.

"Yeah he got his hand cut off by one asshole from that guild, even when it regenerated completely, the pain didn't go away for a while, in fact he broke a cup trying to pick one up with that hand." Lisbeth said.

"Well shit. Should I know anything more about this guild?" Owen asked.

"There's one thing, they are extremely evil and will not hesitate to kill you. That base we are going to might be a concentration camp, they take over other empires and take the citizens as slaves and they do hard labor, or they get raped and then get killed off afterwards." Oblivion said.

Owen slammed his hand on the table and said, "That's disgusting! How about this, since Artemis is God now, he could just go over there and smite everyone on the spot, why not do that?"

"Woah, hey, calm down. If Artemis did that, there's a chance we might kill off all the slaves along with them, we can't take such a risk, plus it'll hurt his reputation and everyone will think he's the creator of this game and he'll be hunted down by everyone." Oblivion said.

Owen sighed, "Sorry, just got, you know, angry, I can't stand for this, this is terrible, they need to be stopped at once." He said.

"Well hey, you've got two blades, one of which can kill instantly on one hit." Oblivion said. It was then, Oblivion got a message, from Artemis. "Well, I guess you can go home now, Artemis says he won't need the extra help for a while now, he says he'll contact you when he needs the help." He said.

"Um, alright then." Owen said, he opened a portal back to the temple in Israel in his universe. "Well, you two have a good one, I'll be taking my leave now, as I have some preparation to do."

They waved bye to Owen and he walked though.

"So, Raven, next step?" Owen asked.

 _*It's time you go on your own adventures, when Artemis contacts you, you can go help. You need to do some training however, I am currently contacting Artemis to prepare a new SAO universe for you, once it is created, the portal will appear, and once you enter, it will be morning time and you will walk outside your room to find your mother, you will speak to her about getting the Nervegear, she will have all the money she needs to get it.*_ Raven said.

"Then my goal is clear." Owen said. The portal appeared, and he walked though...


	9. Arc 1 Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **A/N: Hey, it's Urolutze, so chapter 8 of the prologue pretty much decided to 'kill itself' so now its gone completely, so, I might as well just upload the first chapter of the real story and if you want to know what happens in ch8 first, scroll down to the bottom and it will be down there, anyways, enjoy the first chapter of the first arc!**

Owen walked through the portal and was met with a bedroom, he assumed it was his. Owen looked to the left and saw a phone, a newer one at that, he took it and exit the room. He walked down the hallway and walked into the kitchen and saw his mother cooking food.

"Good morning sleepyhead." She said.

"Um, good morning." Owen said, he sat down at the dining room and pulled out the phone he picked up earlier, he tried unlocking it, but, he needed the passcode. "Hey, um, I forgot my passcode, did I ever tell it to you?" He asked.

"N-no, you didn't. I thought you had it written down on a paper by your computer." She said.

"Um, all right, let me go check and see, because, I don't remember writing it down." Owen said, he walked back into his room and checked the computer desk, he found a slip of paper with a four digit code on it, he tried that code for the phone and the phone was unlocked and right away, he changed it to something he can remember, and then he checked his contacts.

He looked through and found nothing strange, until he found one person in particular. Raven then fazed through the floor and landed on Owen's shoulder, checking the phone's contact list as well.

"Did Caleb put her on my contacts list?" Owen asked.

* _Hmm, I could ask him._ * Raven said, it took 10 seconds to get a response. * _He won't tell me anything about it._ *

"Well then I know damn right he did, and he did it for a reason, but that reason is what I'm stuck at, what did he do it for?" Owen said.

* _We shouldn't ponder about stuff like this, I will become nothing but a voice in your head for now, I will guide you whenever you need_.* Raven said. He then faded away, revealing a ball of purple light from where he sat on Owen's shoulder, and the light entered Owen's head through his ear.

* _If I got it correctly, you should be able to hear me._ * Raven said.

Owen said, "I can hear you." He then left the room again and decided to check the previous messages on the phone, specifically the contact he found that caught his eye. He read through and could only find enough evidence to support that the previous person in this universe that Owen is now inhabiting their body was friends with this contact, or possibly best friends. His mother finished cooking dinner and she dished it out.

After he finished, he got a message from the contact, they said to meet him at a Café down to the left of his house. "Well, I should get going, gonna go to that, erm, Café." Owen said.

"Alright then, oh yes, about that Nervegear thing, I went ahead and got one pre-ordered, it came in today, so once the game comes out, you should be able to play it." She said.

"Alright, thanks." Owen said, he got up and picked out a pair of shoes, and left to the Café.

*Well, I guess this is one way to find out why she's on my contacts.* Owen said to Raven, in his head.

* _It was that Rika person, right?_ * Raven asked.

*Yes it was, and I assume she's got her Nervegear pre-ordered, or she'll get it when it launches.* Owen said. *So I guess I got someone to accompany in SAO, well, if she knows who I am.*

He arrived and entered the Café, he looked to the other side of it and saw Rika, who waved at him when he arrived. He went ahead and sat down at the table.

"So did your mom get you the Nervegear yet?" She asked.

"Yeah, she told me right before I left." Owen said. "Have you got yours?"

"Yup, so, I looked up a place where we should meet, and I think it would be easier if we met in the south side of the plaza in the town of beginnings." Rika said.

"That sounds like a plan." Owen simply replied.

Rika sighed, "What do you look so nervous for?" She asked.

"Um, nothing! No reason at all! I'm good." He said.

"Hmmm, no, I think you're lying to me, you know what I think?" She said, smirking.

* _Raven, help me out please, she's gone done that, I know what you did face._ * Owen asked Raven, he ignored.

Owen sighed, "What do you think?" He asked.

"Hmmm, ah, come to think of it, I'm not sure, the thought just flew out of my mind." Rika said.

* _You're welcome._ * Raven said.

* _Yeah, thanks, I'm just worried, about what could happen in SAO. I know it's a death game and it's not just fun and games, it takes real skill and aptitude to get out alive and survive, many player's died in the original timeline of this universe, in fact I'm willing to bet I could have been in the original timeline, but died off, it's not easy and if me being here changes Rika's fate, then I have to protect her at all costs._ * Owen said.

* _Now yours and Caleb's universes are becoming more similar, only because you're here._ * Raven said.

"You seriously don't look too good, is everything alright?" Rika asked, worryingly.

"Nah, I'm good, just, tired is all." Owen said.

"Oh, well some Coffee should get you going, here comes the waiter." Rika said.

The waiter asked for their orders and they gave them the orders, she then left. * _Check your wallet._ * Raven said.

Owen pulled out his wallet and found he had ¥50,000 on him, he took a closer look and found a birth certificate, it was his, though, something seemed off, he wasn't 19 anymore, he was 15 again, his birthday was different, March 2nd it was, so it seemed whenever he traveled another universe, his age changed, or, it was Caleb who set it like that before he went.

"What are you looking at there?" Rika asked.

"Just, erm, checking how much money I had, because, my mom tends to put money in there randomly for some reason." Owen said.

* _You realize how rich your family is in this universe, Caleb set that like that._ * Raven said.

* _So what, do I gotta take her out on a fancy dinner now? I mean, does she like me that way?_ * Owen asked.

* _Not right now exactly, but, she would go for a nice fancy dinner with you, Caleb altered the past events of this universe slightly it seems._ * Raven said.

* _Sensational…_ * Owen said, to Raven, uncomfortably.

The waiter came and gave them their orders, Owen pulled out some change he had in his wallet and tipped the waiter some, they then took a quick sip, before Rika smirked again.

"What have you gone made that face again for?" Owen said, who was on the verge of laughing.

"No reason." She said, still staring at him.

She could tell in his eyes that he was about to laugh, that was her goal anyways, to make him laugh. "Can you please tell me why you're doing that?" Owen said, who could barely hold in his laughter.

* _Oh, she likes you, deal with it._ * Raven said.

Owen then started laughing, and Rika sat back and joined him in his laughter, after they calmed down, they finished their coffee's and Rika got up, taking Owen by the wrist and said, "I got just the place to go, with all that money you got."

Owen smirked and said, "Sure, I'll blow this cash away, I don't even need it!"

Suddenly, a portal opened by them, and out came Caleb who pointed towards Owen and said, "Dumbass!" He then went into the portal, Owen started laughing again, though, Rika was confused.

"Who is that?" She asked.

"Oh god, it's really complicated, you take me where you want to go and we'll talk about it." Owen said. They walked out, though, Owen realised his faults in this situation, * _What have I done, if I die, she'll feel like shit, and if she dies before I do, I'll feel like shit, I'm an asshole._ * He said to Raven.

* _Don't think about it like that, just worry about her, protect her, if you have to die, you will be fine, you are the artificial godborn, and Artemis could increase your magic cap anytime, and you can cast invincibility to things like microwave signals.*_ Raven said.

* _What if he died, then there is no god to control and supervise the multiverse?_ * Owen asked.

* _He would have to make someone else god before he dies._ * Raven said. * _He can't die easily, in fact, he could face fallen angels, demons and all those sorts if things, he has more power_.* Raven said.

* _Why does this make me think he's gonna travel to more universes that I don't wanna be involved with?_ * Owen said.

Him and Rika continued walking down, Owen looked to her and asked, "Where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, nowhere special, but before we go there, you need to come clean about the thing that happened back in the café." Rika said, who took Owen by the wrist semi-lightly and brought him over to a bench, they sat down.

"Well, I have this amulet here, you'll think of me as crazy, but, only before I show you the power it has. This amulet here that's glowing blue gives me the same power of a being called a godborn, and I used it's power to bring me into this universe." Owen explained.

"Yeah, well, after seeing what I saw in the café, I wouldn't be surprised if you could do that, but if you're sure, then show me." Rika said. "Actually, come here." She took Owen's hand and brought him into an alley.

"I come from a completely different universe, I came to build my skills in SAO, so I could prepare for a difficult task that will take place in the future, or, I mean, whenever I want to go, considering I came here from a universe that was set in 2019." Owen said, he then opened a portal to his universe and they both went through.

"Okay, so, who was that other guy? Was he one of those, Godborn people?" She asked.

"Well he was, until god himself came to him, and gave all his power to him, and god then took his leave, forever. Yes he died, unfortunately, due to all the shit going on between him and satan, I don't really look too far into that stuff." Owen said. "But hey, I want this between you and me, we can't talk about this with anyone else."

"Alright, I won't tell anyone, so, let's go back, I'll take you to that place I wanted to take you, and, I'm glad you came clean with all that happened." Rika said.

"I wouldn't lie to a friend for shit, now let's get out of here before someone recognizes us." Owen said, taking Rika's hand and opening the portal back.

 **Chapter 8 Events:**

 **Owen enters Caleb's universe and Caleb receives the amulet that gives him the title of God, he meets everyone, including the version of himself, and he learns that him and Lisbeth are having a child inside a game called Fate's Hand Online that is in fact a death game much like SAO. He stays the night inside of that universe and afterwards he goes back and enters his own SAO universe, all this leading up to this point.**


	10. Arc 1 Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **A/N: So you may have noticed I changed the description of the story three times now, I have been thinking of many things I can do with this story, this is actually my first official fanfic and it probably won't be the best story you ever read, even though it still ties with Yozila85's story as Owen travels to Artemis's universe when they are trapped in a game called Fate's Hand Online. I decided that making Kirito and Asuna missing until the end of the second Arc was a stupid idea to begin with and that I should just make him show up sometime after the raid on floor 1. So, no missing Kirito and Asuna now, we can go along this story normally, enjoy.**

 **SAO Release Date**

Owen woke up to an alarm ringing in his ears, he slammed his fist down on it and it stopped. He got up, and remembered, it was time. He went downstairs and got the box the Nervegear was in when it came in, he went back upstairs into his room, unboxed his Nervegear, plugged it in, turned it on, put in the game, and put on his Nervegear, got in a comfortable position. He was about to say Link start, though, he heard his phone ringing and ended up saying, "Link, St-fFUCK!"

He took off the Nervegear and turned it off. He checked the phone to see who it was, it was Rika, right then and there he remembered he was supposed to meet her in the south of the Town of Beginnings, it would be a challenge to find her because of course, he didn't know what her avatar would look like before Kayaba pulls off the mirror trick.

Owen answered the call and said, "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, I was gonna log on, but I thought I'd remind you, to meet at the south side of the plaza." She said.

"Ha, actually, when you called, I actually remembered to meet you there, though, I should know what your avatar's gonna look like so finding you is easier, I'm just gonna try and make mine look like myself, cause, I got like, no imagination." Owen said.

"Wow, okay then, speaking of my avatar, I'm not sure, i'm just gonna wait until I get to the avatar creation." Rika said.

"Alright, well, I'll be able to find you there easily. See you later." Owen said, Rika said bye and hung up. Owen turned his Nervegear on again, got into a comfortable position, and said "Link Start." Lights flashed towards him, the Nervegear tested his five senses, and he made an account, and set up his avatar to his preferences, not that it mattered, and he spawned beside town and was met with a crowd of people, talking about the game and how revolutionary it was, Owen had never seen anything much like it.

* _Hey, is there a way you could give me a temporary buff that could help me find Rika, or, well, Lisbeth, now that we're in SAO and there is no way in hell we're getting out now.*_ Owen asked.

* _I have set you a waypoint to her location, now excuse me for I need a moment.*_ Raven said.

Owen nodded, and before he went, he checked his username, just to make sure it was correct, and it was, he set it to Oblivion, not because he had no imagination and that he took the name of Oblivion from the other universe, he just liked the name. He saw his waypoint to where Lisbeth was supposed to be was in the south of the plaza, he walked over, though, before he could enter, a girl tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me?"

Oblivion turned to her and asked, "What's up? Having trouble?"

"I found something, that you might be interested in, see the menu, the logout button is gone." She said.

"Oh. That's, strange, I guess. Is it like that for everyone else?" Oblivion asked, he knew well that it was a death game, though, he felt that he already revealed a lot more about himself than he wanted to.

"Well, try opening yours." She insisted.

Oblivion went ahead and opened the menu, he saw the logout button was missing, as to be expected. "It's probably a bug, don't worry about it." He said.

"Everyone's been trying to call the gamemaster, no one's been able to yet, so until I figure this out, I wanna form a party, sound good?" She asked.

Oblivion scratched his head and smiled, "All right, but first, I gotta find my friend, she's in the plaza." He accepted the party invite she sent to him after he replied, and they went down and found Lisbeth with her avatar, she had brown hair, which kind of was to be expected, as the pink hair that she'd have later would have been a suggestion from Asuna, and Lisbeth's avatar looked somewhat different than her real looks.

"I think that's her, right there." Oblivion said. They walked over, and Lisbeth walked over, not recognizing Oblivion.

"I'm looking for my friend, mind helping me?" She asked.

Oblivion started laughing, Lisbeth looked confused for a moment, only until she realized it was him. "Well, we found you I guess." He said, he looked but up to Lisbeth and saw her face was red and she looked embarrassed.

"Who is this though?" Lisbeth asked, after getting over the fact she didn't recognize her friend.

"Um, let me check, her username is…" Oblivion stopped after reading it, Raven stopped the flow of movement and time and a purple glow came out Oblivion's ear and formed into Raven, landing on his shoulder. "Her name intrigues me, why so?" Oblivion said.

* _She died in Caleb's universe, used to be a friend of the other Oblivion, which is why he became a mercenary, to avenge her.*_ Raven said.

"Did he ever avenge her?" Oblivion asked.

* _Yes, and the killers handle is Red Eyed XaXa.*_ Raven said.

"Oh, so it is her… We should keep her as safe as possible." Oblivion said.

Raven turned back into the purple ball of light and flew into Oblivion's head, and everything started moving again. "Her name's Platia, she actually might have a question for you." Oblivion said.

Platia stepped up and asked, "Can you check your menu real quick, and most importantly check the logout button."

Lisbeth stuttered for a moment, but she opened her menu and gasped, she saw the logout button was missing. "But, how? A bug that serious should have been fixed as soon as possible, the game was out how long now?" She said.

"That's not the problem, it's getting late and if the gamemaster doesn't get a call about it asap, we'll be stuck here the whole day!" Platia said.

Just then, they saw everyone in the game being forced into a teleport into the plaza. "I think we're about to find out why the gamemaster wasn't called." Oblivion said.

And soon enough, a dome of red hexagons formed around the plaza, and a blood like liquid started oozing through the top, which came together and formed a robed figure.

"Welcome, Sword Art Online player's. I am Akihiko Kayaba, creator of Sword Art Online." The figure said.

"Well finally he decided to show up." Platia said.

"Don't get your hopes up." Lisbeth said.

"Wow, you read my mind there." Oblivion said. * _Only I know exactly what's gonna happen.*_

"As many of you know, the logout button is missing, this is not a bug, I repeat, this is not a bug. This is a key feature of Sword Art Online." The figure said.

Lisbeth and Platia gasped, Oblivion didn't which drew Platia's attention, however, Lisbeth already knew why he didn't, Oblivion looked to her and saw the look in her eyes that told him he was in trouble.

Lisbeth turned to the figure and Oblivion felt a jolt of guilt. "When a player's HP reaches 0, the Nervegear will send a microwave signal to your brain's powerful enough to simultaneously kill you. There is now no way for a player to revive a player after their HP hits 0." The figure said.

"B-but why?" Platia muttered.

"He's about to tell us." Oblivion said, this caught Lisbeth's attention, and she seemed a little more relieved, as she assumed Oblivion knew how to get out.

"The only way to escape is to beat the boss on the 100th floor. Now, you may be asking yourself, why, why would I, Akihiko Kayaba, developer and creator of Sword Art Online, do this?" The figure said.

"You don't even remember, not until this is over anyways." Oblivion said, Platia looked confused, though, Lisbeth gasped in joy.

"It was because I wanted to create a world with a fate of my control. Now, I have left a gift in everyone's inventories." The figure said.

The three opened their inventories and saw the mirror, Oblivion already took it out and looked into it, and his avatar was replaced with his real self. "Should I?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yes, just to be sure." Oblivion said. Lisbeth and Platia went ahead and looked into their mirrors, and their real life forms replaced their avatars.

"Now, good luck player's, you'll need it." The figure said, before disappearing, as well as the dome around the plaza.

"So what just happened? You know how to get out of here?" Lisbeth asked.

"I know someone who can get us out." Oblivion said.

"How do you know all this?" Platia asked.

Oblivion looked down and sighed, looked up back to Platia and said, "I think I should explain later, right now, we gotta focus on getting to the next town, there's only so much gear we can pick up here, we'll need to go to the next town so we can get the gear from there asap."

"Then let's get out of here." Lisbeth said.


	11. Arc 1 Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **1 Month Later**

Lisbeth, and Platia were laying low for a while, Oblivion had been doing tons of power leveling, leveling up to 25, doing their best to stay out of sight for any PK'ers, or any people in general, because Lisbeth was worried about the mental state of the people of this game, Platia was looking for a sibling of hers and Oblivion decided if she was gonna look for her, they'd have to protect her.

Today Oblivion was out on a field on his own, leveling up, but Raven brought to his attention that he could replicate the two swords he's gotten while getting the Amulet of Godborn, Fryz and Dáinsleif. Raven gave them to him, but Oblivion wanted to know if Raven could give him the dual wielding skill, until a portal opened up while they were talking.

Artemis walked through and said, "You wanna know how I got dual wielding?"

Oblivion laughed, "Yes I would like to know, tell me about the scars afterwards." Oblivion said.

Artemis laughed, "I'm not sure it'll work for you but, might as well try. First of all, you're gonna need to draw two swords." He said. Oblivion nodded and he equipped both his swords and held them in each hand. "All right, just practice until you got it down." Artemis said, he went back into the portal and left Oblivion to practice alone.

It felt weird trying at first, a lot of hits were terrible or he missed completely, as time went on as he kept trying, he noticed he got better and better and eventually once he was swinging both blades in a normal fashion, he got the dual wielding skill.

Raven entered Oblivion's head and he went back to the inn him and the other two were staying at. He entered through and said, "You guys want dinner?" The two nodded and got up and followed Oblivion to a restaurant. Oblivion hadn't spent much Col on anything, besides a green and black cloak he liked. The three had ordered their food and waited. "So I got a new skill today." Oblivion said.

"What skill?" Lisbeth asked.

"Dual Wielding, supposed to be super rare, not many will get it. I don't think I should wield this sword, it's way to overpowered." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, one cut and your target is dead. Use it for emergencies." Platia said.

"If I had this checked out by someone with an appraisal skill, they'd see it's all glitched and shit, this shouldn't even be here." Oblivion said, "But they work the way they do IRL so, that's good." The waiter came with their food and Oblivion paid for it. "We should keep my skill between us, I don't want any player's knowing." Oblivion said.

"How come? You think people will be jealous and kill you over it?" Lisbeth asked.

"That may happen, I just don't want anyone to find out until I reach a higher level, that way I can at least protect myself." Oblivion said.

"You're kidding! You're almost level 30, you've been power leveling for over a month straight, as if that's your life now." Lisbeth said, glumly.

Oblivion sighed, "What, you wanna spend some time with me? Or what's going on?" He asked.

Lisbeth took his hand and looked to him, "Why don't you take me with you when you're power leveling, huh? I need to level some as well." She said. Oblivion felt a burst of guilt course through his heart, he thought she was worried about the other player's, that could go crazy at any moment and kill her. "You aren't afraid of going out, you're brave, I'm scared to go out at night, and day as well, I want you to protect me."

Oblivion felt a tear draw down his face, and Lisbeth started crying and she wrapped her arms around him. "I'll take you out to level with me, I'll protect you, no matter the cost, and Platia, you should come too, we might be wanted to fight the first floor boss, so we should prepare ourselves the best we can." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth let go, she had stopped crying and looked to Oblivion and smiled, "Thank you." She said, softly, before turning to finish her food.

When they finished, Oblivion said, "It's a good time to go and level some too, and I've been having a lot of fun with this new skill, in fact, I should show you."

The other two nodded and they went outside into the fields. Oblivion drew Fryz and his starter sword, just so the enemies he tested the skill on wouldn't die in one hit. They stopped and hid behind a boulder, looking for their first target. An unlucky boar stood out in the middle of the field.

"I'm gonna kill that one, using the dual wielding skill." Oblivion said.

"All right, you kill it, we come out afterwards." Platia said.

Oblivion gave them a quick thumbs up, and he charged the boar with both his blades drawn and swung Fryz at the boar's leg, leaving a cut and freezing it in place. Oblivion then ended the boar's life by swinging his other blade down and decapitated it expertly.

Lisbeth and Platia came out from behind the rock and Lisbeth said, "How rare is that skill anyways?"

"So rare in fact either you can get it through hours of tough practice, which I'm lucky I went through practicing because it was exhausting and was almost impossible, or you can't get it unless the gamemaster himself gives it to you." Oblivion said. Just then, they heard loud stomping sounds in the distance, a big herd of boars came charging at the three angrily. Lisbeth and Platia started screaming, though, they stopped upon feeling their hands being grabbed by Oblivion and Oblivion ran them out quickly, they made it out just barely. The three were panting heavily, they were tired. "We should probably level some other time, I'm toast." Oblivion said. Just then, Oblivion got a message, he checked and saw he was invited to the raid party for the floor one boss, and he was free to bring anyone he wanted. "Well, I think we should level up some before we fight the first boss." Oblivion said.

"Wait, we're gonna fight it? With a raid party and everything?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yes, and I'm hoping to find someone along the way." Oblivion said.

 **A Week Later, the day of the meeting.**

Oblivion hadn't reached level 30 yet, however, he felt more than ready to fight the boss, he was currently level 28, and Lisbeth and Platia had actually caught up quite a bit, Lisbeth was level 26, and Platia was level 25, and they had gotten some good gear for themselves.

Oblivion took Lisbeth and Platia to the meeting, and they sat down. Oblivion was more focused on looking for Kirito, he couldn't see him at all and he was irritated. After the little argument Kibou came and started about the beta testers ended, a guy moved over to Oblivion and asked, "I haven't gotten any party members, mind taking me in?"

He seemed all right, he had replaced all his starter gear with upgrades, he had a longsword and a shield, black and blue cloak with shoulder guards and a chestplate. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and he looked to be 15 or 16. "All right, sure, why not?" Oblivion said, swiping a party invite to him. He accepted, and Oblivion looked to his health gauge and saw his name, Rhen.

"Well, nice to meet you, Oblivion." Rhen said. He held his hand out for a handshake, Oblivion shook his hand, and just then, the meeting was over, and the group walked out.

"I suppose I should introduce you two my other two party members. Rhen, this is Lisbeth, and this is Platia. Lisbeth and Platia, this is Rhen, he's joining our party for as long as he wishes." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, and how do you know he's not some kind of scammer that just wants to toy around?" Lisbeth asked.

"Aw come on, that'd be ridiculous." Platia said.

"Yeah, but to be sure…" Lisbeth said, she then examined his gear.

Rhen was obviously confused and he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just checking your gear, to see if it's any better than the starter sets." Lisbeth said, she continued checking, and when she finished, she said, "I guess he's fine."

"How can you tell his gears good?" Platia asked.

"I've been practicing a few skills, Identification, Blacksmithing, you know." Lisbeth said, surprising Platia, but Oblivion smirked. "What are you smirking at me like that for?" Lisbeth asked.

"Ah no reason, but y'know, smithing might become a specialty for you." Oblivion said, "Though, I was looking for this other guy, couldn't find him at all, he should have been here for sure."

"Who was it you were looking for?" Rhen asked.

"His handle should be Kirito, he had black hair, black eyes." Oblivion said.

"And you're for sure he was supposed to be here and he even logged onto SAO the day of the launch?" Rhen asked.

"Yes, but, where is he?" Oblivion mumbled.

"How do you know this guy anyways?" Rhen asked.

"Hey, I've been checking the list of player's, there's a Kirito in here." Platia said, the other three turned to her.

"So he's in the game, but if you're sure he was invited, why didn't he show up?" Rhen asked.

"Yeah, if he was so important, then why would he not show up?" Lisbeth said.

"And you never explained the stuff you said back at the plaza to me, I've been waiting for you to remember but it seems I have to tell y-" Platia said, she was quickly interrupted.

"Enough! That's enough, I'll explain." Oblivion said, "Let's just go somewhere else, we've drawn enough attention already." The other three nodded and Oblivion led them to a bench, they all sat down. "Rhen, I'm from another universe, and let me put it so, I really don't give a shit if you think I'm crazy, but the amulet I'm wearing right now IRL is giving me a power equal to the power of a natural Godborn, and Godborn is a being that has a fragment of a god's power. I can travel universes by will, and if anything, I know Kirito was supposed to be at that meeting." Oblivion explained.

"Do something with your amulet then." Rhen said, smirking.

Oblivion got up and opened a portal into his universe, he stood by the portal and said, "That's my universe, you wanna go in there and see for yourself?"

"N-no I don't." Rhen said.

Oblivion closed the portal and said, "Perfect, we can move on. Kirito was gonna be at that meeting, and I didn't see a single one of them that could have been him."

"Well what's he so important for anyways?" Lisbeth asked, irritated.

"He would have beaten SAO with a blade you went and forged yourself, even though it ended up breaking, it was a powerful sword, powerful enough to keep Kirito going far through the boss fight, he would have gotten the last attack bonus on the first floor boss, but, why did he not show up?" Oblivion said.

"Oh, so you said Blacksmithing was a good specialty of mine because of that, huh?" Lisbeth asked.

Oblivion nodded, and said, "Yeah also you might develop some kinda weird crush on him because of the temperature of his hand, I never quite knew exactly why but, it happened."

"If he's dead, who's gonna beat this game?" Rhen asked.

"If he isn't alive, then I'll beat this stupid game myself, I'm not sure how he did it, in fact, he could have died, but for some reason, the game went bonkers or something and after he lost all his health, he killed the boss somehow by stabbing him through the chest. If I ever lose my health completely, I probably couldn't figure out what he did before it's too late, and the Nervegear didn't kill him either." Oblivion said.

Oblivion looked to Lisbeth, he saw a face of one worried about something heavily. Lisbeth looked up and said, "I don't know how well you know me, but, to me, you are still the same Oblivion I always knew, I couldn't live with myself if you died, even if it was for my sake, or anyone's sake."

Oblivion sighed, "I might have a solution to this problem, Platia found Kirito in the list of players so he is alive, but for now, it'll have to wait, let's just get some sleep, we're gonna need it before the raid tomorrow, maybe we'll find who we're looking for tomorrow." Oblivion said. The others nodded and stood up from the bench. Oblivion looked over to Rhen's direction and said, "I suppose you got a place to stay, unless the inn you're staying at is getting boring."

"Yeah I got somewhere, I should probably stay there for now." Rhen said.

Oblivion nodded, and Rhen walked away, as he did, Rhen sent the others in his party a friend request, and the three accepted. "Maybe Diabel invited us to the party instead of him because he saw my dual wielding skill." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth gasped, "Maybe that's why he isn't here, does he not have the dual wielding skill yet?" She asked.

"No, he'll get it later." Oblivion said.

"I still can't believe you came from another universe." Platia said.

"Believe, it's easier that way, rather than not believing in anything." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth nudged Oblivion's arm with her elbow and said, "Wise guy, huh? You've got a rare skill people would beg for and you don't think you can beat this game."

"Well if me and Kirito fight the boss, we should be able to kill him, no faults at all, but, what will all the changes do to this universe?" Oblivion wondered.

"There's only one way to find out I guess." Lisbeth said.


	12. Arc 1 Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **The Next Day, Floor Boss Raid**

The raid group was led by Diabel, no surprise, Kirito was still nowhere to be found, neither was Asuna, during the Dungeon Raid, but they had just found the boss room, Oblivion's party was ready, however, Oblivion was worried, about Rhen, he was a good fighter, and he's been a good friend, he was worried about Platia as well, he wanted her alive at all costs, for the other Oblivion, just so he can see her again, but it was Lisbeth he was most worried about, however, he didn't know exactly why, he thought it was probably because he liked her, but, he couldn't find himself to think that much, he was just worried about her, a lot, and it haunted him, heavily.

"Well, here we are, get ready, we're going inside in a couple minutes." Diabel said, who was in front, looking upon the whole raid group.

Oblivion sighed, and ignored, this caught Lisbeth's attention, and she wanted to know why he was acting like this. "Hey, what's going on?" Lisbeth asked.

"N-nothing, I'm just..." Oblivion stopped, he thought about what could happen during the raid, to her most of all.

Lisbeth put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You can tell me anything, I want you to know that, just, please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm worried, I have no idea what's about to unfold, us four were never at this raid, only in this universe will it happen. It haunts me, I'm worried for Rhen, Platia, and you, and whenever I imagine the worst that can happen, it's always you that I'm worried most for." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth was touched, the fact he was worried about her and what could happen, but, at the same time, saddened, because now she had her friend worried sick for her, and now, she was worried sick about him. "I'm worried about you too, but, I didn't think you'd care that much." She said.

"Are you kidding? I'm outright worried sick, I don't know what my existence could do to you, or anyone, or anything, I wasn't reincarnated properly, I just sorta came here." Oblivion said.

Oblivion felt a hand touch his left shoulder, he looked to the left and saw Rhen was the one who put his hand on his shoulder. "If that other guy was reincarnated, how did you meet Liz in that universe, or, I mean, the version of you?" He asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, I saw it happen, though, I couldn't hear anything, I must have said something to her that made her feel warm and happy inside, that's all I know, besides one thing..." Oblivion said.

"Well tell me, you've met them in their universe, haven't you?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yes I have, and, they get stuck in another death game, in the year 2032. That 'something else' might make you feel a bit awkward, so, just brace yourself." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth nodded, but shortly after, Diabel called out to the raid party, saying, "Alright, we're going in now, I have only one thing to say. Let's win!"

"U-um, just tell me later I guess, right now, we gotta focus on beating this boss." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion nodded, the four looked ahead as the party walked into the room. Shortly after entering, a huge, red-skinned monster jumped from a throne and landed in the middle of the room, causing the ground to shake vigorously. Illfang, the Kolbold Lord, welded a large axe that would wreak havoc upon impact with the ground, along with a shield. The raid party was shaken by the impact caused by the boss landing on the ground. Everyone kept their guard up. Oblivion knew its patterns already, he was no beta tester, not that it mattered because the boss fight was changed up a bit since the beta, however, being an Artificial Godborn was good enough to know its patterns. The Kolbold Lord let out a loud roar, that erupted across the whole room and shook it lightly, pushing the party back a tad bit.

"Alright, everyone, keep your guard up and hit it with all you got!" Diabel called to the party, and then everyone charged the boss down with fury, every one of them had their weapons drawn. Oblivion wielded Fryz. Oblivion's party members furiously charged the boss, Lisbeth wielded a mace she picked up earlier, she wasn't much to use a sword or an axe, Oblivion knew that, Rhen wielded his longsword along with a shield, and Platia wielded a war axe, without a shield, as she thought it would slow her down. The four ran and saw other players, fighting for their lives, and some dying for the lives of the ones around them. As more players died, the more angrier the players became.

"Alright guys, this ain't gonna be easy, but listen up, we gotta deal with these asshat minions so that they aren't a problem while we're trying to attack the boss." Oblivion said to his group.

"Got it." Lisbeth, Rhen, and Platia said at the same time, and so the four split up, each one of the group headed to kill their own target. Oblivion ran furiously towards one of the minions and swung Fryz towards its leg, the minion blocked, however, the minion couldn't move its arm, it was frozen, and right then and there, Raven told Oblivion to kill it before it compromised, and so Oblivion took a swing towards it's neck, and decapitated it, killing it instantly with no surprise. Oblivion looked over to Lisbeth's direction, and saw she was in need of some help, and Oblivion ran over there and as the minion swung towards Lisbeth, Oblivion dove in front of her and blocked the strike, and as he slid to a stop, Oblivion winked at Lisbeth, and then jumped towards the minion and kicked it across the face, knocking it down, and as Oblivion landed again, he sent his sword through the minion's neck, killing it.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Lisbeth said with a smile.

"No prob, so, the minions are taken care of, Rhen is killing the last one, Platia's coming right now." Oblivion said.

Just then, Oblivion looked towards the boss, it let out a roar and threw its weapons away, Diabel would go for the final attack, however, the Kobold Lord would pull out a different weapon from the beta test, Diabel said, "I got this one."

Oblivion didn't want him to die, but, nor did he want to be seen as a beta tester, knowing the other players were probably crazed and insane due to being stuck. Oblivion couldn't do anything, Diabel already went for the jump towards the boss, and just then, the Kobold Lord drew a No-Dachi and jumped towards a pillar and jumped rapidly from pillar to pillar, until he jumped down and landed a huge cut across Diabel's chest and swinging again at Diabel, launching him to the other side of the room and decreasing his HP to 0 in a matter of time.

Rhen slid to a stop beside the others while they watched in horror as Diabel was struck down to to the ground. Oblivion ran towards Diabel and pulled out a potion, not that Diabel even wanted to take the potion.

"C'mon man, you can't die like this, that attack was unfair if you ask me." Oblivion said.

"Y-you were a beta tester, weren't you?" Diabel said.

"No, no I wasn't, whether you believe it or not, you were supposed to invite Kirito and Asuna to this raid, not me and my party." Oblivion said.

"Why? Would I not die otherwise?" Diabel asked.

"Well, you would die, but, this could have been avoided much easier if me and Kirito were here, he's a beta tester." Oblivion said.

"Please, just finish this, for everyone." Diabel said, before he exploded into shards.

"Fuck." Oblivion mumbled, before running back to his party.

*So you tried to save him, even though you knew he was gonna die.* Raven said.

*If Kirito is really gone, I guess I have to do everything he's done.* Oblivion said.

Oblivion arrived with the rest of his party and said, "He's dead, we need to defeat the fat thing and be done with this, Rhen, he keep its Aggro directed towards you and dodge as much as you can, Platia, you hack the thing up with your axe when you see an opportunity, Lisbeth, you're with me, we're gonna finish this, together."

"But, what if we die?" Lisbeth asked.

Oblivion turned to her and pointed his sword towards the boss and said, "Then we die together, it's better than dying alone." Oblivion turned back to the boss. "Diabel may be dead, but if we die, at least we do it for him, so let's show this boss something I like to call, 'An assload of hurt'." He said.

The group said, "right," and Oblivion ran around the boss, waiting for Rhen to start, when he did, Oblivion saw the boss turn after being hit by Platia, and it was then Oblivion knew, it was their turn, Oblivion turned to Lisbeth as they ran and said, "You ready?"

"Ready when you are." She called back, and they jumped towards the Kolbold Lord and Oblivion stabbed the beast with Fryz, slowing it down heavily, and Lisbeth struck the beast's spine with her mace, taking a good bit out if its health. The two landed on the ground and Oblivion said, "Again, this time, strike it as much times as possible."

Lisbeth nodded, and the two jumped back towards the boss and Oblivion swung at the Beast's chest multiple times, Oblivion didn't have the STA stat yet to go as quick as he could in the real world, but, the boss took 15 hits by just Oblivion before he landed, taking half the HP it had left, whereas Lisbeth struck down the boss 13 times as quickly and as forceful as she could, leaving the boss one half a bar left of health. Oblivion called out to the others in the group saying, "All of us! At the same time!"

They said, "Got it." And they slid to a stop by Oblivion and Lisbeth, each with their weapons readied. Oblivion counted down from 3 to 0 quietly, and when he reached zero, they charged the boss with fury, only to be launched back after the Beast slammed the ground near them. The Beast charged the four, if something didn't happen, they were sure to die, in fact, their HP was cut in half due to the impact. The Kolbold Lord swung his blade towards the four, however, when Oblivion thought for sure they were done, Agil came in and blocked the strike, saving all four of them.

"I'll take it while you four recover." Agil said.

The four each pulled out a health potion and drank them, filling up their HP almost up to the max. The four got up and charged the boss and unleashed a flurry of deadly attacks while it had it's back turned on them, the boss fell over dramatically and exploded. The others started cheering.

Oblivion heard a "Hey," to his left, Oblivion turned to see Agil, who said, "This victory goes to you, and your party."

"Stop cheering!" A voice said further down the room, "Why did you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?" Kibou said angrily at Oblivion.

"Let him? Well, fuck, he'd be alive if he would've just drank the potion I offered him." Oblivion said.

"I seriously doubt he'd just let himself die like that." Kibou said, he mumbled to himself for a moment, until one of Kibou's followers started speaking.

"I think he's a beta tester! He knew the boss didn't have the same weapon as he did in the beta test!" He said.

Oblivion sighed. "Did you?" Lisbeth asked quietly.

"Well, yes I did." Oblivion said. Lisbeth sighed, the group contemplated for a short moment, until Rhen stood up, and Oblivion asked, "Wh-what're you doing?"

"Something you'll thank me for." Rhen said, quietly. He turned to Kibou and said, "He's not a beta tester, I can assure you that."

"Yeah, how can you tell? What, are you saying you were a beta tester?" Kibou asked,

"Yeah and if you really think it's the beta testers to blame, how about you stop making an enemy out of them and ask them for help. Diabel was a good player and died for us, was he a beta tester? No, but he was probably the best fighter we had, and to sit here and argue about a man's death is pathetic, especially if you blame them on someone who tried to save them. He didn't let him die, Diabel let himself die." Rhen said.

Kibou stuttered for a short moment, until he managed to speak fluently after what he heard, and he said, "H-he let himself die? Wh-why the fuck would you suggest that!?"

"Oblivion said it, he said he wouldn't take the potion he offered him, he was done." Rhen said.

Oblivion stood up and walked over towards Rhen and stood by him and said, "Diabel was a beta tester, and for the time I've lived life, death is the last thing I want, especially if it's someone I knew somehow who died, do you really think I wanted him to die?"

"So were you a beta tester or not?" Kibou asked.

"No, neither was Rhen." Oblivion said.

"Then, how did you know he had a different weapon from the beta test?" Kibou asked.

"Well actually it's really complicated, I'd rather keep it to myself." Oblivion said, walking away to the entrance to floor two, Lisbeth stopped him before he could open the door.

"I want to know what was bothering you before we fought the boss, you never got a chance to tell me." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion sat down, and Lisbeth sat down by him. Oblivion let out a soft sigh, and said, "What if I told you, the version of us in that universe are going to have a child?"

"Y-you're kidding..." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion created a small worm hole, and Oblivion and Lisbeth looked inside to see themselves, Lisbeth had a baby boy in her hands. "Ain't he cute?" Oblivion asked.

"Oh my god... He's the cutest little thing I ever saw." Lisbeth said, softly.

Oblivion closed the worm hole and said, "His name, ummm, what was it?"

* _His name is Kiyo Snow, he's an AI, due to the fact that they're stuck inside a game._ * Raven said.

"Yeah, his name's Kiyo, Kiyo Snow, he's an AI, because they get stuck in another game." Oblivion said, he turned back to Lisbeth and she wrapped her arms around him. "It's weird, seeing us in the future of another universe." He said.

"Yeah, definitely." Lisbeth said.

"Well, we should get going and find an inn to stay at for the night on the second floor, so, Rhen, and Platia, you two gonna stick around?" Oblivion asked.

"I've got nowhere to go." Rhen said.

"Same here." Platia said.

Oblivion and Lisbeth got up, and Oblivion said, "Well, let's do our best to beat this son of a bitch and leave in one piece."


	13. Arc 1 Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **Four Months Later**

Oblivion was fighting off a mini boss in the wilderness of floor five on his own, he finished fighting it and it exploded into shards, and he got a few metal ingots, which proved useful to him because he had gotten Lisbeth to start working on some Smithing skills, he also suggested she could start a business too. After fighting the boss, he heard some bushes rustling by him, Oblivion yelled out, "I heard that! Show yourself!"

Not one second later, a lavender colored haired girl came out from the bushes, and asked, "Did I startle you?"

Oblivion chuckled, "Yeah, maybe a little bit actually, you're not spying on me are you?" He asked.

She giggled, "No, why would I do that?" She asked.

"Uh, I dunno, people do those kinda things all the time." Oblivion said. Oblivion quickly asked Raven to activate a telekinetic power, to see what she was thinking and what she was trying to do, however, Raven brought to Oblivion's attention that this girl wasn't a human, but rather, an AI. "Okay miss, I know why you're here." He said.

"Oh really? Tell me then, I'd like to know what's going in in that head of yours to think such a thing." She said.

"Your an AI, with the name of Strea, also, part of the Mental Health Counselling program of this game." Oblivion said.

Strea gasped, "How'd you know that so quickly? W-wait a minute here, there's something in your head." She said.

"My head? Wha-? Oh..." Oblivion said, he realized she was talking about Raven, who revealed himself shortly after. "Ah, the talkin' bird, don't mind him."

"So I should have known when I laid eyes on you, an entity that doesn't even belong in the game." Strea said, crossing her arms.

"Erm, yeah, his name is Raven, he's of the real world too, not just this game, he's a celestial being who decided to hide inside my brain and give me guidance on everything, rather than stay with his original master." Oblivion said.

* _Wonderful introduction, 10/10_ * Raven said, sarcastically.

"Oh shush." Oblivion said, he turned to Strea and asked, "I might be able to help you, you wouldn't mind joining my party, would you?" Strea stuttered for a moment, Oblivion saw this and continued, "I know about the headaches you get, so, there's no need to hide anything of the sort. I can help you, just, trust me."

Strea thought about the decision she was about to make, and, after a little bit, she said "Alright then, where to?"

Oblivion sent her a party invite and asked, "Can you accept that? Or no?"

"Um, let me try." Strea said, she accepted the invite. "Okay, where to now?"

Oblivion pulled out his teleport crystal and asked, "Ya got one of these?"

"I should, just hold on a second." Strea said, she took out her teleport crystal and said, "Alright, wherever you want to go, I'll go."

 **12th Floor, Oblivion's House**

Oblivion and Strea walked in on Lisbeth, Platia, and Rhen talking amongst themselves, they looked up to Strea, and Lisbeth asked, "Um, might I ask who this is?"

"This is Strea, she wants our help, and in return, she'll help us however she can." Oblivion said.

"So, another party member? We're gonna have to share rooms now?" Rhen asked.

"If she wants to stay here." Oblivion said, turning to Strea.

"Um, yeah, this place seems nice, I'd rather stay here instead of where I am right now." She said.

Lisbeth got up and laughed, "Well, welcome to the team, I'm Lisbeth, and those two are Platia, and Rhen, nice to meet you." She said, holding out her hand for a handshake.

"Aw, so welcoming, I wish everyone was like that." Oblivion said.

"Oh shush, you." Lisbeth said, shaking Strea's hand, she sat down and asked, "So, what suits your fancy?"

"My fancy? What, my clothes? You think their fancy?" Strea asked, confused by the question.

"No silly, I mean your weapon, what do you use? A sword, dagger, axe, mace, hammer, or what?" Lisbeth asked.

"Erm, a, a staff actually." She said.

"Whats going on? You seem so shy." Platia asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, I guess I'm like this when I meet a lot of new people, don't worry, I'm good." Strea said.

"Well, if you think so..." Platia mumbled.

"So, I should probably tell everyone the real reason why she's here, so, Strea, this is gonna be quite the explanation so, just sit down with everyone else while I explain." Oblivion said. Strea nodded and sat down, and Oblivion continued, "So, I went and killed a mini boss, got some metal, so, I'll give that to Lisbeth after this explanation, but then I heard some rustling bushes by me, I called Strea out, who came from the bushes, she's an AI, part of the mental health counselling program of this game, now, she serves no purpose to the program and had been roaming around on her own, and, I think she might be able to locate another AI I'm interested in finding. Her problem is that she gets sudden headaches the closer we are to beating this game."

"What AI are you trying to find?" Strea asked.

"Her name is Yui, she's also part of the mental health counselling program, and she has a connection with someone I'm looking for." Oblivion said.

"I don't know if I can find the others, but, I can try at the very least." Strea said.

"Good, and, I also have to have a little talk with someone who knows how to keep you guys safe." Oblivion said.

"Who, the gamemaster? I don't think the program will allow me to contact him." Strea said.

"Thats right, because he's in this game as a player and he doesn't want to be found." Oblivion said.

"Who is it?" Lisbeth asked.

"If I tell you, there's a risk people could be spying on us and they'll know too." Oblivion said. Oblivion asked Raven to investigate the area for any spies, and there was one person who was listening through the window of the apartment. Oblivion said, "There is a spy, behind the window." And just then and there, he turned and exited the apartment and went around with his sword drawn. He spotted a blonde girl, dressed in blue and wearing a hood over her eyes, and Oblivion said, "Wanna keep doing that? Or should I take you in?"

The girl didn't answer, and smirked at him, and ran off. Oblivion started running off on his own with the goal of figuring out the identity of this girl, she seemed familiar to Oblivion. The girl started jumping up from rooftop to rooftop, and Oblivion climbed up a building and chased after her. With every second it seemed the girl was getting further away, so, Oblivion decided to activate a skill that would multiply his STA and AGI stats by 1.5, and just then, Oblivion was catching up with ease, and the girl turned and ran off into the forest, Oblivion did so well, and halfway through the forest, she was gone, she turned away and disappeared. Oblivion stood out in the forest, alone, he had decided to draw another one of his swords, he had called it the Slicer, it was his first sword forged by Lisbeth, and he used it against monsters and learned it had an ability that can slice through wood almost as if it was a Kryptonite bullet piercing through Superman's chest with ease, and if Oblivion used the sword on anyone, he thought it might be the most incredible pain possible in the game that can be caused by a blade. He stood there, for a minute, with his Slicer and Fryz, alone, just knowing that she would come out to attack him, and just then, the girl charged in behind him and Oblivion turned and blocked her sword with his Slicer, her hood was flipped back upon impact of the two blades, however, something seemed strange about her sword, one side of the blade was normal and straight, the other was jagged, and Oblivion's sword got stuck in one if the spaces, giving the girl the advantage, only until Oblivion took Fryz and swung it towards her other arm, and she quickly fell back avoiding the strike. Oblivion was growing impatient at this point and had decided to put her in a hold by telling Raven to use a hold power, and the girl was stuck in place, struggling.

"W-what kind of skill is this?!" The girl yelled out.

"Sometimes it's not the skills that the player uses to do these kind of things, sometimes it's paranormal." Oblivion said.

"W-who are you!?" The girl yelled out, still struggling to move.

"I'm Oblivion, now, who are you, and why were you spying on me?" Oblivion interrogated.

"I was just doing my job! Just let me go and we can settle this like normal people!" The girl cried out.

"Can't, not that simple, you've got an orange cursor, and just who are you working for exactly?" Oblivion asked.

"I was just doing a job for somebody, he's trying to get an item, and so I'm trying to get it, and then if I do, I get paid, he never told me his name, he just told me to call him sir." The girl said.

"Okay, what's your name?" Oblivion asked.

"It's Philia." She said.

Oblivion laughed, "Well if you wanted help, all you had to do was ask, besides, what item were you looking for exactly?" He asked.

"He said it was called the Thieves Key, supposedly it's got the ability to unlock every locked chest with ease." Philia said.

"What does this guy look like?" Oblivion asked.

"I don't know, he always wears a mask, a skull with deep red eyes, I heard talk about him having the name of, XaXa." Philia said.

"That bastard..." Oblivion mumbled.

"W-what?" Philia asked, who didn't hear what he said.

"If I'm right, he's targeting one of my party members, he's one of the co-leaders of Laughing Coffin, if he gets that key, they could sleep PK inside other's homes." Oblivion said.

"Oh my god, if I knew, I wouldn't have took the job..." Philia said.

Oblivion released her from the spell Raven cast, and she stood up and said, "Thanks, feels better to be able to move."

"Of course, but, if you don't mind, maybe my party could help find this key." Oblivion offered.

"I'm a solo player, I don't work well in a team, it's probably best that I find this key and keep it from XaXa's grasp, alone." Philia said.

"I thought people always said that two head were better than one. XaXa is an emotionless killer and won't hold back anything if he attempts to kill you, I think it'd be safer if you would join my party." Oblivion said.

Philia sighed, and said, "I guess you're right, Laughing Coffin is a feared guild, there's gotta be a reason why people are scared of them. I'll join your party then."

Oblivion swiped an invite over to her and she accepted. "Well, do you have a place to stay at the least? Like an apartment? Because I got more room in mine for one more player in my apartment." He asked.

"I've been staying at an inn and its been getting expensive recently, so you won't charge me right?" Philia asked.

"No! Why would I charge my own party members for a place?" Oblivion asked.

"Just wanted to make sure, so, before we get overrun by monsters, we should get out of here and back into town." Philia said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Oblivion said.

 **10 Minutes Later, Oblivion's House**

The two walked inside and saw the others in the party talking, and they looked and gasped to see the one who was spying on them in the first place was let in by Oblivion. "Oh don't be surprised, she's gonna help us." Oblivion said.

"Are you crazy!? She was spying on us!" Lisbeth said.

"Well she's not spying on us anymore, she's our sixth party member, and she had brought to my attention that Laughing Coffin is looking for a key that is supposed to be able to unlock any lock with ease. If they get that lock, everyone is fucked, because they can open people's houses with that lock and kill whoever's inside when their sleeping, and we can't let that happen." Oblivion said.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Lisbeth asked, almost scared for her life.

"Hey, if we get this key first, then it won't be a problem." Oblivion said.

"The thing is with this key is that whenever a floor is completed, the key moves up there and it's placed in a random location, so, as floors are being completed, the key's not only on the next floor, but it also becomes more difficult to find." Philia said.

"This is gonna be difficult..." Rhen mumbled.

Oblivion yawned, and checked the time. "Well, I'm getting tired, I'm gonna go to bed, you guys see if you can get Philia set up for the night, g'night guys." He said, walking into his room, he fell asleep not a minute after laying down on the bed, and the others got Philia and Strea set up for the night. Their goals were clear, and that was to solve Strea's problem with her headaches, and to find the Thieves Key before Laughing Coffin does themselves, and to find Yui, Asuna and Kirito, and clear the game.


	14. Arc 1 Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **11th Floor**

Oblivion had racked up enough Col to get Lisbeth a shop, and the problem with finding Kirito and Asuna was almost solved, as Oblivion ran into Asuna on the front lines, he went and introduced Lisbeth to Asuna and you could tell they were already best friends. They haven't met Kirito yet, as Oblivion wanted to wait until he'd come into Lisbeth's shop for another sword to wield with his Elucidator. They still had the problem with the Thieves Key and trying to keep it from PoH's grasp. Strea's headaches were getting worse with each floor they completed. Oblivion was at his house that he was sharing with his party, where he'd surprise Lisbeth by giving her a shit ton of money for a shop. Lisbeth and Asuna went out to get Lisbeth's hair color changed to Pink, as Asuna suggested to her, saying that it might attract customers. They entered the door and Oblivion bursted through the closet by the front door with a bag of Col and cheered, "Money money money!"

This startled them both, Lisbeth was convinced he was going crazy, she turns and asks "You alright?"

"Yeah, now let's get you a shop." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth gasped in joy and said, "You're kidding!? All that Col, for me!?"

"Yeah, I got shit tons from a good spot in one area. The thing about this being a death game is that the Gamemaster can't kick us off for maintenance, so there was a good spot out there that can get you lots of Col that barely anyone knows of yet." Oblivion explained.

Lisbeth leaped at him and wrapped her arms around him, she couldn't believe the amount of Col he'd gotten just for her, even if he had some sort of advantage. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear.

"No sweat." Oblivion said.

"No sweat? Thats a lot of Col you're just giving away." Asuna said, somewhat worried about his decision.

"So, how much Col have you spent on yourself? You've got an expensive flat I heard." Oblivion said.

"Um, I think, 4 mil." Asuna said, realising Oblivion can get more anyways, they were in a game, you can grind a lot if you put a lot of effort into it.

"Yeah, don't worry, I kept a lot for myself and the party too." Oblivion said, "Well for food and gear, and such."

"How much Col do you even have anyways?" Lisbeth asked.

"Well, I have the money for your shop, the money to keep us alive, and also, I've been thinking about forming a guild, so I've got some extra for that." Oblivion said.

"A guild? But how much money do you have for the party?" Lisbeth asked.

"Well I did rack up a lot today, like 1000, thats what I had left today, I've been saving that money for your shop for a long while now, so 500 for the party and 500 for the guild, that is if I decide I want to form it." Oblivion said.

"Well, you are a good leader, you've kept us alive for a long while now, I think you'd be great to lead a guild honestly." Rhen said, who just went in through the back door with the others.

"Well, you guys see Lisbeth's hair? She changed it pink today." Oblivion asked.

The others walked in and smiled, they must've liked it. "See Liz? Its cute, it'll rack up customers like a charm." Asuna said.

"Yeah but, I don't want any of 'em to get any ideas, especially with the get up you suggested." Lisbeth said.

"Well tell them to piss off, boom." Oblivion joked, putting on a little smirk on his face too.

"Yeah, it's the way you do things that makes me wanna do this business on my own." Lisbeth said.

"B-what!? I was only kidding…" Oblivion said.

Lisbeth smirked at him and said, "Can't keep yourself from smirking, can you?"

Oblivion sighed happily, "Don't scare me like that, I really want to help your business y'know, I've leveled a shit ton of my forging skills recently." Oblivion said.

"Oh yeah? What's your average forging at?" She asked, still smirking.

"Let me check." Oblivion said as he checked his skills, "827." He replied.

Lisbeth's smirk grew wider, "829." She replied.

"What! So what!? Close enough!" Oblivion said, who was on the verge of laughter.

Lisbeth laughed, "Ah, this is why I like you, you're always up to crack us all up when things seem bad." She said.

Oblivion sighed, "I wish we weren't always risking our lives, that includes just existing as ones and zeros in this game." He said, all gloomily now. The others seemed all down now, Oblivion had to cheer them up now, "Well, let's go and find a shop for Liz before we start getting all down." He said.

Lisbeth walked over to Oblivion and whispered into his ear, "Can we talk? Alone?"

"Um, alright then." Oblivion whispered back. She took him into her room, she sat down and patted on a spot by her, Oblivion sat down by her and said "Sorry about making everyone sad, that wasn't really my intention."

"What did you come here for?" She asked, this kinda scared Oblivion, he was usually fearless but, this was new, coming from Lisbeth, who was usually happy, and hardly anything could stop that.

"U-um, well, I came here to build up my skills, due to the fact that there's a lot of universes I want to go to, including one that may or may not caused more deaths than SAO just over the course of a day but..." Oblivion said.

"More deaths than SAO? Over the course of one day!?" She yelled, scared for where he wanted to go.

"I know what I'm doing..." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth got up and grabbed the collar of his cloak and started tearing up and said, "You came here to make us happy, but, really, with the state we're all in, what's the point!?"

"Don't think about it like that! Hey, we found Asuna, she knows the one person who's gonna get us out." Oblivion said.

"That doesn't mean you won't possibly die in here before that happens!" Lisbeth said, tearing up more, and wrapping her arms around him.

* _I told you I was an asshole._ * Oblivion said to Raven.

* _Well watch this little magic trick._ * Raven said, suddenly, Oblivion couldn't speak, he tried, he couldn't move anymore, his body started moving on its own, he took Lisbeth's hand and out of nowhere, kissed her, and it seemed to calm her down. After that, Oblivion felt control of his body again. * _You're welcome._ * Raven said.

* _How the fuck does that help!? Now she'll either leave, or fall for me, and if I die, she'll still feel like shit, and if she died, well I'll feel like shit, why would you do that?_ * Oblivion yelled at Raven.

* _Just tell her you love her, and that you'll protect her to the very end, and that if you die, you'll wait for her on the other side._ * Raven said.

*Heh, seems like it'll work.* Oblivion said. "Don't worry, as long as I'm alive in this universe, I'll protect you to the very end, if I do end up dying, I'll wait for you on the other side, because, I love you, and you know what, if you don't feel the same about me, then that's fine, because I'm more worried about you than I am worried about myself and I'd rather you be alive than dead and if I have to die to save you, then at least my death won't be in vain."

Lisbeth wiped a tear from her eye and said, "That makes me feel so much better, thank you."

Oblivion took her hand and said, "No sweat."

"But what kinda universe has more people dying over one day than SAO would over a few years?" Lisbeth asked.

"A very cruel one, that I want to help out however I can." Oblivion said. The two exit the room and Oblivion said, "We'll talk about what happened later, for now, we just gotta get this young lady a shop."

"Alright, Rhen, Platia, Strea, Philia, stay here, Asuna, you come with." Lisbeth said.

"Okay, let's go then." Asuna said.

The three exit the shop and looked around on that floor for a shop, they wanted to find one that was on the same floor as their house, for convenience. Oblivion heard there was a good one somewhere around the outskirts of town, it had everything Lisbeth would want in a shop.

"Theres one in the outskirts of town, supposedly it's got a nice water wheel and everything." Oblivion said, showing her where it was on the map.

"Really? Well let's go see it." Lisbeth said, taking both Oblivion and Asuna's hands and bringing them down where it was supposed to be.

 **10 Minutes Later**

"Its nice, isn't it?" Oblivion asked.

"Kinda looks sketchy." Asuna mumbled.

"It's beautiful…" Lisbeth said, very quietly and softly, she turned to Oblivion with a smile on her face and said, "What are we waiting for!? Let's get it!" She took their hands, bringing them over to the shop and she went and bought it without hesitation. She entered in front and gasped in joy, 'it was perfect', she thought to herself. She turned to Oblivion and said, "Well I guess we have Oblivion to thank for finding this one, it's perfect."

"Well, I'm glad you lik-" Oblivion said, though, he was interrupted by Lisbeth who went up to him and hugged him tightly.

"I love you too, that's something I should've said back at home." She whispered into Oblivion's ear, just then, his heart wasn't as cold as it used to feel, it felt warm, he never felt a feeling quite like what he was feeling, and on its own was just love, an emotion he hasn't felt very much throughout his life, he thought to himself, 'Love is a beautiful emotion, something we all can't help but to feel one time in our lives.'


	15. Arc 1 Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **The day after**

Oblivion woke up and heard his bedroom being knocked, must've been one of the others, he got up walking towards the door and said, "I'm coming." He opened the door and Lisbeth stood behind the door. "Hey, what's going on?" Oblivion asked.

"Oh nothing, everyone else is still sleeping, I woke up early and wanted to see if you were awake. Sorry if I did wake you up." Lisbeth said.

"You did, but that's fine, so, you gonna open up the shop today? I'm not doing anything today and I can help out if you want." Oblivion asked.

"Yeah I was, and sure, I could use a little help around the shop, it might get busy, who knows? Though, I actually wanted to talk, about something." Lisbeth said.

"Okay? In here or, the living room?" Oblivion asked.

"Doesn't matter, living room is fine." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion nodded and the two walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Oblivion was about to speak, but was cut off quickly by Lisbeth who placed her hand on Oblivion's. "About what happened yesterday, I mean, it's not that you or I don't want to but, you really want to be with me?" She asked.

Oblivion looked at her and smiled, "Why not? I think you're a nice person, nicer than anyone I ever met before, but, I'll tell the truth here. Raven, come out here." Oblivion said, and just then, Raven fazed through the floor and landed on Oblivion's shoulder. "This is Raven, he is a celestial being, he helped me get here, and he's the only reason why we met, and that one time I kissed you to calm you down was because Raven took control of my body and made me do it, but, it didn't feel like I was being forced into doing it, he knew from the very beginning that we might fall for each other and if that were to happen then I'd protect you at all costs."

*He's right, the only reason he was able to meet you was because my previous master helped him gain the amulet from Vanaheim, one of the nine realms.* Raven said.

"Holy shit, he can talk?" Lisbeth said.

"Fuck yeah he can talk, he's also the only reason why I was able to find Asuna and Kirito, I don't know where they were at the time of the first floor boss, but we found them, and him and Asuna are going to get married, in here anyways." Oblivion said.

"R-really? And, y-you want to marry me?" She asked.

"Yes I do, because you're the only one who can keep me happy most of the time I've been here, what can I say, I love you just because I do." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth smiled and said, "I love you too but, what if you die? What if I die?"

"I'm friends with a couple of gods, Thor the god of Thunder, and a new one, Artemis the second, god of Creation, I'm sure they can keep that from happening, hopefully, but I'm here, and as long as I am here, I will protect you with my life." Oblivion said.

*Well, my previous master is calling me for something, he needs me back right now, so, from here on out, you're on your own.* Raven said.

"Tell him I said thanks, without him, I wouldn't have met her." Oblivion said.

Raven nodded and flew through the window and he was gone. Oblivion and Lisbeth looked to each other, smiling, they leaned in closer to kiss, but, they were stopped when they saw Philia and Platia walking down the stairs, yawning. The other two sat back again, "What are you two doing up at this time? You guys are usually the last to wake up." Philia asked.

"Well, Liz woke me up, she woke up early." Oblivion said.

"Are Rhen and Strea still asleep?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yeah, they're heavy sleepers too, but at least they use the alarm system on their menu's." Philia taunted.

"Oh shush, like you're the one to talk, you usually wake up after those two anyways." Oblivion joked.

"I don't have time for jokes, you know that." Philia said.

"Well what do you have time for at this time in the morning anyways..." Oblivion mumbled.

Suddenly, Asuna burst through the front door with a face of fear and said, "The Thieves Key was found on floor 24! Apparently an escort from Laughing Coffin is bringing it to PoH!"

"What!? You're kidding!" Oblivion said.

"I kid you not, get your gear ready, Kirito and the Assault Team is on the way right now, we need to back him up." Asuna commanded.

"Got it, hey, Rhen, Strea! Some fucker from Laughing Coffin got the key, we're leaving now so get your shit together!" Oblivion called to them upstairs.

 **Floor 24**

Oblivion was with his party, they were sent out by KOTBO as a search party to find the one who found the key, well, rather than actually search around for the guy, they were commanded to spy on one specific area where they expected him to pass through instead.

"God, we'll never see this guy pass through, we were here for 18 minutes." Lisbeth complained.

Oblivion sighed, "Yeah, they call us a search party for this job and they want us to spy on one area, fuckin' bullshit." He complained.

"You two are total crybabies, sheesh." Philia said.

"Yeah but, I'd rather spend my time doing something else, can't we have one day of peace and have some rest?" Oblivion said.

"That'd be nice, heck, why don't we just ask for a day off?" Lisbeth asked.

"Ha, how about a week off? Now that'd be a dream I wouldn't wanna wake up from." Rhen joked.

Oblivion laughed, "Would be great if we had one day at the very least. Now we should get focusing on looking for this g-" He said, being interrupted by the sound of two swords clashing in the distance. Oblivion checked who it was, he saw Kirito, fighting off their target. Oblivion jumped up to his feet, drawing both Fryz and Slicer and said, "You guys stay up here, I'll holler if I need help." He slid down the hill and ran towards the LC member bearing the key, Kirito noticed someone coming and fell back, "Don't worry bud, I'm on your side." Oblivion said to Kirito.

"Who sent you?" Kirito said, blocking a strike coming from the LC member.

"Myself, why? Cause why the hell not?" Oblivion joked, swinging at the LC member's leg, slashing it, he fell back.

"That's quite the skill you got there kid." The LC member said.

"That's quite the voice you got there, in fact, I'll go and buy some throat medicine next time I have the chance." Oblivion joked.

The LC member growled and swung his blade towards Oblivion's neck, he quickly blocked the strike with Fryz and swung Slicer towards his wrist, almost cutting his hand off, but he was able to move his hand further away from the blade, but the slicing power of the blade cut his skin cleanly, and it would be extremely painful, making his swings less forceful. The LC member yelled at Oblivion and charged him, swinging his blade towards Oblivion's chest, though, he was able to duck and kick the man's leg, knocking him onto the ground, Kirito took this as an opportunity to put some shackles on the bastard, and take him in. Oblivion used a corridor crystal to send him into KOTBO's dungeon.

"So, I thought you'd be at the first floor boss fight, I don't see why not." Oblivion said.

"I was gonna arrive at the meeting but, something else happened." Kirito said.

"Yeah, you're friends with the second in command, Asuna, I met her already, and hell she's become fucking close friends with my girlfriend, it's great… At times." Oblivion said.

"Oh really? She never told me yet." Kirito said.

"She will, trust me. I should get back to my party, they're probably worried sick about me." Oblivion said.

"Alright." Kirito said.

Oblivion walked up the hill and upon seeing his friends were still there, he said, "The little shit's in jail now, and I had a word with Kirito, apparently Asuna never told him about you Liz."

"Well why would she need to?" Lisbeth asked.

"Well he might check in at your shop and buy something." Oblivion said.

"Maybe so." Lisbeth said.

"Well, we did our job, the guy was sent to prison, the Key is in safe hands, let's go home and have that day of no work we were dreaming of." Oblivion said.

"Are you kidding? The shops open today, and you're helping today." Lisbeth said.

"Oh… Never mind, the rest of you go home and, have fun I guess, without us." Oblivion said.


	16. Arc 1 Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **The Next Day, Oblivion's House**

"So, this Kirito guy wants to duel you in an hour? What are the rules?" Lisbeth asked Oblivion, as he was making breakfast.

"Yeah, it's a one hit and you win duel, something like that." Oblivion said, flipping an egg and accidentally exploded the yolk on impact, "Fuck!" He yelled.

Lisbeth laughed, "Having trouble there?" She asked.

"The skills in this game can be bullshit sometimes, I'd be makin' eggs like a fuckin' pro IRL." Oblivion joked.

"Well, I'm going to the shop now, once you're done dueling that guy, come and help me, alright?" Lisbeth asked as she got up and walked towards the door.

"Yeah no problem." Oblivion said, as she exit the house. He finished making breakfast 15 minutes later and dished them out for the other four and called them down. He sat down as they came down and sat down as well and started eating. "Rhen, I'm gonna need you to take care of the house and make sure it doesn't get burned down today." He said.

"Okay, no problem, why? You going to go help Liz today?" Rhen asked.

"That, and Kirito wants to duel me." Oblivion said, confidently.

"And you think you'll beat him?" Philia taunted.

Oblivion laughed, "Probably not, I might have a chance if I used my dual wielding but, I want this to be a fair fight, plus, I'm using a basic sword I forged up earlier, no enchantments or special abilities at all." He said.

"Yeah, you'll get your ass whooped." Philia said.

"Oh well, shit happens." Oblivion said. Oblivion finished his food and got up and said, "I'm leaving now, see ya." He then left and walked to Lisbeth's shop. He entered and said, "I got 40 minutes until Kirito's gonna message me."

"Alright then, just take the orders then." Lisbeth said, who was in the other room.

Oblivion sighed and sat down at the counter. He waited 12 minutes until a customer walked in and said, "Lisbeth gone turned to a guy now?"

Oblivion laughed, "Sure she did, nah, she's just organizing shit in the other room, so, whad'ya want?" He asked.

"A greatsword, I need it to be better than this one here." He said, placing a sword on the counter.

"Alright then, just let me show this to Liz and I'll be back." Oblivion said. The guy nodded and Oblivion walked into the other room and said, "We got an order, it's gotta be better than this sword here he requested."

Oblivion handed her the sword and she checked the stats, then she picked out a metal and said, "Tell him it'll cost him 460 Col."

Oblivion walked out the room and handed back the sword to the guy and said, "She says it'll cost 460, unless you have a metal you want us to use, it'll cost less but we might have better metals on us."

"Nah, just make it out of what she suggested, I don't usually carry metals with me, nor do I pick them up ever." He said, handing Oblivion the money.

Oblivion had placed it onto the counter and went into the forge room and started making the sword himself, as Lisbeth was busy organizing tools and such, Oblivion finished a minute later and went back to the counter and handed the guy the blade.

The man looked at his stats and was surprised, he said, "Holy shit, this is more than just a little upgrade don't you think? I couldn't take this!"

"I believe you should take it, you paid what you owed, and besides, that thing might save you one day." Oblivion said.

The guy nodded and equipped his sword, and walked out the shop, and just then, it was time, Kirito messaged Oblivion to meet him on the 21st floor, he walked into the other room and said, "He just messaged me, I'll be back in an hour."

"Alright, good luck with your duel." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion nodded and walked out the room and outside the shop, he took out his teleport crystal and teleported to floor 21, a floor the other Oblivion hated a lot. He saw Kirito leaning against a pole across from where he was teleported into town from, Oblivion walked over to him and asked, "Where should we duel?"

"There's a spot somewhere by the plaza where we can duel, just follow me." Kirito said. They started walking, out of curiosity, Kirito asked, "So what are you gonna use? That sword that cuts through wood easily, or the one that freezes people to death?"

"Neither, I'm just using a basic sword I forged earlier at my girlfriend's shop, just so the duel will be somewhat fair, what are you using?" Oblivion asked.

"Well I usually don't carry multiple swords on me, so, the one I'm usually using, you know which one I mean." Kirito said.

"R-right, that one." Oblivion said.

"What level are you?" Kirito asked.

"Let me see, level 52, how about you?" Oblivion asked.

"53, I leveled once just earlier, I ran into a boar on my way here." Kirito said.

"Ooh, this'll be interesting." Oblivion said. *But really, one level below Kirito? Shit, I might actually beat him." He thought to himself.

"You're not afraid to lose, I like that." Kirito said.

"Well just as long as my life isn't on the line, I can't be afraid, but even when it is on the line, I'm not scared, I'm angry, but when all's said and done, then I'm afraid it'll happen again and something else will happen, so in a way, it's not when my life is on the line that I'm afraid, it's when my life is not on the line, because all I can think about is my friends dying on me." Oblivion said.

"I'd hate for that to happen…" Kirito said.

 _*I guess he's still in the Moonlit Black Cats guild, they were yet to run into that trap that would supposedly kill each one of them except for Kirito, and the leader would jump off on the edge of Aincrad, and Kirito would blame himself, all because he said he was level 20 or something instead of 49._ * Oblivion said in his mind.

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked.

"N-nothing." Oblivion said, doing his best to keep Kirito from thinking something bad was gonna happen.

"Hmm, alright, well, the spot's right there, you ready?" Kirito asked.

"Yup." Oblivion said. They arrived at the spot and Kirito went into his menu and challenged Oblivion to a one hit win duel, and Oblivion accepted, they both drew their blades, drawing the attention of many, who recognised the two and sat back and watched.

"Oblivion versus Kirito, they say Oblivion's hooked up with a master blacksmith now, who knows what kind of weapon he's wielding." One of the guys watching said.

"Then you wouldn't be surprised that blacksmith he's hooked up with is one of his party members, no one really knows how they got together." Another guy said.

"You're kidding? I only heard that she was a blacksmith, I didn't know it was Lisbeth." The other guy said.

"Who are they talking about Oblivion?" Kirito asked, 30 seconds left before the duel began.

"They're talking about my girlfriend and me being together, we haven't been together for a week yet and it's already gone public." Oblivion said, now 23 seconds left.

"Wow, you're kidding." Kirito said, 20 seconds left.

"What's funny is that my party members never found out yet, oh they will though, and one of them tends to taunt people a lot." Oblivion said, now 14 seconds left.

They waited the remaining 14 seconds, and the timer went off and Oblivion activated his speed skill and the two charged each other, the sound of their swords clashing excited the crowd around them, many of them thought Kirito would win for sure, but many also believed Oblivion had a chance as well. Kirito went in with a horizontal slash aiming at Oblivion's chest, he blocked the strike by holding his blade vertically by his side, he pushed the blade away and fell back, he charged on the full offence swinging his blade towards Kirito's waist, he wanted to make sure the strike was blocked so he could try and confuse him, Kirito blocked the strike and just as Oblivion felt his sword hit his blade of Kirito's, he spun the other way swinging at Kirito's arm, almost landing the hit, only to be blocked by the blade Kirito quickly swing towards Oblivion's, he then sidestepped and swung his blade at Oblivion's leg, landing the hit, and ending the duel right then and there, the crowd cheered for Kirito.

"Wow, that was fun." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, I'll be honest, you put up a good fight." Kirito said. Kirito and Oblivion sheathed their blades and shook hands.

The two turned to see a young kid had walked up with an adult, the kid said, "That was cool, can I have your autographs?" The kid held out a couple pictures taken, one of which had Kirito, the other was Oblivion, Kirito and Oblivion recognised them as someone asked them for a picture.

"Of course." Kirito said with a smile. The kid handed Kirito a pen and Kirito signed his name on the photo of him, he passed Oblivion the pen after and he signed his name on his picture, Oblivion handed the kid his picture and the pen.

"You like watching sword fights?" Oblivion asked.

The kid nodded and said, "I wanna learn how to use a sword one day."

"Really? My girlfriends a master blacksmith, she can forge one for you, and I can teach you." Oblivion said.

"Really!?" The kid said, excited now.

"Yeah I'm serious, well, that is if your guardian's okay with it." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, you can take him out, just bring him back by 5 tonight." She said.

Oblivion nodded and looked down at the kid again and said, "Well let's get you a sword."

 **20 Minutes Later**

Kirito left back to his house, Oblivion arrived to Lisbeth's shop and opened the door and saw Lisbeth at the counter. "W-who's this?" Lisbeth asked.

"His name's Miche, he saw mine and Kirito's duel and he said he wanted to learn how to use a sword, so I told him I'd forge him up a sword with some metal I got." Oblivion said.

"Alright, be careful, you hear?" Lisbeth said.

"Mmm hmm." Oblivion said, walking into the forge room, forging Miche a shortsword. "Alright, let's walk outside and I'll help you practice." Oblivion said.


	17. Arc 1 Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **An Hour Later**

Oblivion dropped Miche off at his home and teleported home, he entered and saw everyone at the dinner table, silent. Oblivion walked over and sat down and asked, "What are you guys doing?"

"They want to talk to us two about something." Lisbeth said.

"Let me guess, you guys found out we got together." Oblivion said.

They nodded, "So, it's not much but, it'll be enough for a decent wedding." Platia said, placing a pouch of Col on the table.

"No no no no, if anything, it's us who's paying for a wedding, besides, getting married in an MMO isn't anywhere close to being like a wedding IRL, we'll just update our friend status and have a nice dinner." Oblivion said. Platia nodded and took back her Col."Also, this is besides the point here, but I've raised enough money to start a guild, show of hands if you think we should start one."

Rhen and Lisbeth raised their hands first, the others were thinking about it, but not much longer, Strea and Platia put up their hands, Philia didn't, Oblivion knew she was a solo player and she said it was already bad enough that she was in a party.

"Alright, a guild it is, so, name ideas?" Oblivion asked.

"Ask your friend Kirito, he might have a good name." Rhen suggested.

Oblivion nodded and sent Kirito a message, not long after, he sent the message, he suggested one word, 'Knights'. "He said we should include the word Knights. Something Knights, what shall that something be?..." Oblivion said.

"Fury, I think it describes your anger while fighting, Oblivion." Platia said.

"Well, I like that, but not anything to describe us all?" Oblivion asked.

"I like Fury as well, the Fury Knights, let's pick that." Lisbeth said.

"Alright, Fury Knights it is for the guild name. I'm gonna go get it set up and then go look for a good headquarters." Oblivion said.

 **7 Months Later - Floor 49 : Mulgen**

It was almost Christmas of 2023, by this time Kirito had already lost all his guild members, now Kirito is after the revival item, Oblivion left the house when everyone else went to bed early, he went to go look for Kirito, along the way he passed by Argo, who asked, "What are you doing Oblivion?"

"Looking for Kirito, he went home, and I already know he's gonna try and solo that boss afterwards, if you know where it is, tell me." Oblivion asked.

"I don't know where it is, besides, I thought you'd be at home with your girlfriend, I didn't expect you to ditch her." Argo said.

"She's sleeping, I left to find Kirito, and that revival item, it doesn't revive dead players, because the one he's trying to revive is dead IRL now, there's no way the Cardinal system would take a player's consciousness and convert it into an AI, the Nervegear takes about 10 seconds to kill someone after they've died in the game, the revival item can save them before that happens." Oblivion said, surprising Argo.

"Where'd you get that info?" Argo asked.

"It's obvious, a revival item in a game can't bring a real dead person back to life, it can only save them from being microwaved and refill their health." Oblivion said. "Plus, I watched many people die in here, it takes around 10 seconds until they're gone for good."

Argo sighed, "I guess that's a logical explanation, besides, how are you gonna find Kirito?" She asked.

"I know where his house is, if I can track him down when he leaves, I can follow him to the boss." Oblivion said.

"Well good luck, it won't be easy." Argo said.

Oblivion walked away and walked over close to Kirito's house, hiding in an alleyway, he started using the Track option in his menu to track Kirito, who just exit and ran into an alleyway, and Oblivion activated a sneak skill, that would muffle his footsteps, Oblivion ran into the alley Kirito ran off into and snuck behind him until he was stopped by Klein's guild, Oblivion waited for a good time to reveal himself, a minute later he walked out from the bushes behind Kirito and said, "There's something you should know about the item."

Kirito ignored, Klein said, "Who the hell are you?"

"Someone with valuable information." Oblivion said.

Klein crossed his arms, Kirito turned and said, "What about the item?"

"A player who died in the real world can't be brought back to life by a simple item in a game." Oblivion said.

"Theres still the chance that I can revive who died because of my arrogance, she said something to me, but, I didn't hear her." Kirito said.

"So you believe the Nervegear saves every dead player's consciousness?" Oblivion asked.

Kirito stuttered, he said, "Could be, that's why I'm taking the chances, I want to know what she said."

"Well I know something else you don't know." Oblivion said.

"What?" Kirito asked.

"Door A or Door B? Door A is about the item and Door B is something else." Oblivion said.

"Door B." Kirito said.

"Klein's been tailed by another guild, lets just get that boss before we get overrun, Klein, you'll need to keep anyone else from getting to us while we're fighting the Santa Claus robot shit thing." Oblivion said.

"Okay then, I don't know how you know his name but that's besides the point, lets just go." Kirito said, turning and walking towards the tree, Oblivion followed. The boss fell from the sky and let out a loud screeching roar. "Shut up." Kirito mumbled, they charged and started attacking the boss.

 **15 Minutes Later**

The item dropped, Kirito picked it up and looked at the description, he passed it to Oblivion and said, "I guess you were right."

"You'll find out what she said, only in a matter of time." Oblivion said.

"How can you be so sure?" Kirito asked.

"She may have a message to be sent on a specific day, you never know." Oblivion said.

Kirito sighed, "That's possible, however, what she said in that dungeon would be different." He said.

"At least you'd hear her voice again." Oblivion said.

Kirito got up and walked away, Oblivion teleported home, he opened the door and saw Lisbeth on the couch having a cup of hot chocolate, she got up and asked, "Where did you go? You had me kinda worried."

"Kirito made a bold decision to solo a boss for an item, I went to help, he got a revival item, however it can only save people within 10 seconds after death, which is the time before they get microwaved." Oblivion said.

"So who'd he give it to?" Lisbeth asked.

"Me." Oblivion said.


	18. Arc 1 Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **A/N: Now that the guild was formed, I will allow people to create their own OC's to be added to the guild, they may be partnered with the following SAO character's: Silica, Sinon, Leafa, Strea, Philia, Rain, Argo, Yuuki, and also the Platia OC can be partnered with as well, and if your OC is female, they can be partnered with Klein or any other male character, with the exception of Kirito and Agil or any other character that has a partner. I apologize if any OC's are not added, or if they are added but they don't get the partner they requested, however there is a way to avoid this, you may create two OC's to be together, they can have a rival as well, Oblivion II's rival is going to be Deathgun/XaXa so avoid picking him. Lastly, you are allowed to make backstory for them either to be mentioned in this story and/or told in the form of your own story, if you post a story, you'll need to make sure you tell everyone that the character is in my story as well, but if you will add backstory, add it to the bio of your OC. You must PM me the OC's, please do NOT submit an OC through the reviews as I want that section to be only reviews, and not for OC submission. If you submit an OC through the reviews, I will not add it, until it is PM'ed to me. You must use this template here made by me. Also expect the chapters to be longer as the chapters will now be based on most of the episodes.**

 **Username:**

 **Real Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Physical Appearance:**

 **Clothing/Armour:**

 **ALO Race:**

 **Bio:**

 **Partner:**

 **Weapon:**

 **Focused Skills and Stats:**

 **Now as always, enjoy the story!**

 **2 Months Later**

The Fury Knights guild was formed, Oblivion got a headquarters on floor 54, since they were on such a high floor, Strea's headaches only got worse, it was only a matter of time until Oblivion would somehow get Heathcliff to fix the problem. The guild grew big and the rules had to be set strict due to conflicts in the past, but now all was going well, everyone was obedient, trained, and nobody argued. Oblivion made Lisbeth the guild Blacksmith and though the guild members got one weapon and maintenance for free, Oblivion paid her for all the work, and Oblivion had hired some to collect the materials. While the others in Oblivion's party did odd jobs every now and then, they hadn't been much involved with the guild, only until Oblivion had their gear upgraded, they and the guild fought on the front lines with all the other big guilds. Oblivion was walking through the halls, he ran into Lisbeth as he did and she stopped him.

"W-what's going on?" Oblivion asked.

"The Blacksmith work bas been real tough work lately, I could use some help." Lisbeth said.

"You know, if you wanted a break just ask, besides, I'm expecting a message from Kirito in a moment, we're trying to track down a player from an orange guild." Oblivion said.

"What guild?" Lisbeth asked.

"Titan's Hand, they attacked another guild and our client bought a really expensive crystal that should bring the player to prison, as for the other players, their sentence is death, and since they're orange players, they can be killed without the killer becoming orange or red. This player is also targeting someone I need alive." Oblivion said.

"That's quite the job you're doing, I mean I hope they aren't too dangerous." Lisbeth said.

"Well we aren't trying to track a Laughing Coffin member, that guild is even more dangerous." Oblivion said.

"Just be careful, alright?" Lisbeth asked.

"I will." Oblivion said. Lisbeth started walking away and Oblivion teleported to Kirito's location, Floor 47, he was in the main town waiting for Oblivion in a cafe, Oblivion walked over there and entered, upon entering, Kirito got up and walked over to the door, they walked out the building and started walking along the paths. "You really want this guild taken out huh?" Oblivion asked.

"All his guild members died on him, I know exactly how he feels and me doing this is only because the same happened to me." Kirito said.

"I understand, but one day you'll find your limit to how much you can do, even though you're such a high level." Oblivion said.

"Until then, I have to do what's right, don't I? You think we should leave that guild to live and keep killing other players only because that's how they have fun?" Kirito asked.

"No I'm only saying that there's gonna be one day that our enemies grow strong enough to fend us off." Oblivion said.

"Only if we let that happen." Kirito said.

Oblivion sighed, "I know you'll be able to take them on but, if this were Laughing Coffin we were taking on, it'd be much different, they don't fucking hesitate whatsoever, so I just want you to know what you're going up against." Oblivion said.

"I know that. Our main target is a green player, named Rosalia, she's the one who determines their prey, she has a party that she's planning to kill off, one of whom is probably going to leave her party, whoever leaves first, we will get to lure Rosalia over to us." Kirito said.

"I've been levelling my hiding, identification, and detection skills lately to prepare for this, I'll find out who will leave the party and we will find them shortly after." Oblivion said.

Kirito stopped and asked, "Can I see?" Oblivion opened his menu and showed him the levels of his identification, hiding, and detection skills, Kirito nodded and said, "That should help us."

"Good, where should we expect them to be?" Oblivion asked.

"Argo told me they should be at a forest on floor 35, Rosalia and her party anyways, there's one in particular Argo told me about, apparently they were definitely thinking about leaving." Kirito said.

"Good enough." Oblivion said, pulling out his teleport crystal and teleporting away.

 **15 Minutes Later, Floor 35 : Lost Forest**

Oblivion was hiding in the bushes, a ways away from Rosalia's party, he went through his menu and equipped a pair of binoculars, he muttered, "Silica, you better be the one to leave and not any of the others…"

The party walked through the paths of the forest, they stopped and Oblivion heard them arguing, he activated a skill called "Amplify" that allowed him to hear distant voices in a 15 meter radius, he heard them all clearly now.

"Why should we lend you healing crystals? Your bird has healing powers anyways." Rosalia said.

"Yeah well Pina only heals every once in awhile, it's fair I get some for emergencies anyways!" Silica protested.

"Emergencies? Oh please, as if you aren't protected by us enough anyways." Rosalia said.

"That's it, I'm leaving!" Silica said, opening her menu.

"Wait, don't leave!" One of the others said.

Oblivion got up and messaged Kirito to meet him at his location as soon as possible, not a minute later, Kirito came, "She went off into the forest, we should hurry." Oblivion said.

Kirito nodded, and they ran into the forest, killing a few monsters along the way, they found her, about to be killed by three gorilla like monsters, only until Oblivion and Kirito killed them off, saving her. She looked stunned, she looked over to the feather left on the ground and picked it up, she started crying. Kirito walked over and kneeled by her and asked, "What's that feather?"

"It's Pina, my dragon…" Silica said, still tearing up.

"You were one of those beast tamers, weren't you?" Kirito asked.

Silica nodded, "Check the item information and see if it's got anything." Oblivion said, Silica calmed down and did so, she read the name and started crying.

"Don't cry, if Pina's heart is still there, there's a chance she can still be revived." Kirito said.

"There's a revival item on floor 45, on the Hill of Memories, if we get that in three days, we can revive Pina." Oblivion said.

"Floor 45? Three days? That's impossible! I'll never be able to get all the gear we need…" Silica said.

"Well that's where you are wrong! Mister Kirito here has gear for you and we are going to revive your pet! My name's Oblivion by the way, just thought it might be important you know that because we'll get you that item before it's too late." Oblivion said.

Kirito sighed and opened his menu, and started adding some items to a trade window for Silica, Silica got up and said, "All that for me? I couldn't take all that!"

"No, it's fine, we'll be able to revive Pina tomo-" Kirito was interrupted by Silica opening up a trade window and adding Col to it.

"I can't just take all this and not give you anything in return." Silica said.

Kirito closed the window she opened and said, "It's fine, don't worry about it."

"Why are you doing this though?" Silica asked.

Kirito sighed, "If I tell you, promise me you won't laugh." He said.

Silica nodded and said, "I won't, I promise."

Kirito looked away and said, "It's because you look like my little sister…"

Silica stuttered, before laughing, even after Kirito told her to do the opposite, Kirito sighed, Oblivion said, "It's funny how you were about to be killed by three bare ass Harambe's and now not long later, Kirito says something to make you laugh, even though he asked you to do the opposite." Oblivion smirked at her, she stopped laughing.

"Yeah, sorry about that, besides, it's really late, we should get going." Silica said.

Kirito and Oblivion nodded, and they pulled out their teleport crystals and teleported into town. They were walking along the paths, Silica suggested it was a good idea to eat first, but then, they were interrupted by two people.

"Silica! Wanna join our party?" One of them said, he was the bigger one wearing the ridiculous pink getup.

"Hey, it's the guy who had a girl avatar before Kayaba came and put your real form in that getup, ah, I overheard you two in the plaza after Kayaba pulled the mirror trick." Oblivion said, holding in a laugh.

"Oblivion? Silica, you're seriously not considering joining his party, right? He's always up on the front lines!" The other one asked.

"Wait, really?" Silica asked.

"Um, yeah about them though, we should get going, they don't look to happy with me." Oblivion whispered.

Silica nodded and they walked away, continuing along the paths to the restaurant Silica wanted to go to, they were stopped by Rosalia's party not too long after.

"Hey Silica, long time no see, looks like you made it out of the forest alive, oh, and what's this? Where's 'Miss Birdbrain'?" Rosalia asked, smirking.

"Pina died, but, I'm getting her back, mister Kirito and Oblivion know where a revival item is." Silica said.

"Oh, so then you're going to the Hill of Memories. There's a lot of high level monsters up there." Rosalia taunted.

"Yeah so? I'm always on the front lines, the monsters up there are a fucking bitch to kill." Oblivion said.

"Ooh, such salty language, especially around a little girl like Silica." Rosalia mocked.

"Yeah I'll shove them down your throat later, let's just go guys." Oblivion said, walking past her party, and activating his Amplify skill to hear her response, but got none.

They entered the restaurant once they arrived, they sat down ordered what they wanted. "Why does she have to be so mean?" Silica muttered.

"Mean? More like why does she act so confident? I've killed a lot of high level monsters higher than the ones on floor 45, her over confidence really disturbs me really." Oblivion said.

"People like her are never really scared of their own deaths, what really disturbs me is the fact that some continue to play the bad guy in this game." Kirito said.

"People do? Play the bad guy? You mean like killers?" Silica asked.

"Yeah, people do that, like Laughing Coffin for example, a red guild." Kirito said.

"But, what do you mean by red guild?" Silica asked.

"When you kill a green player, the green cursor above your head becomes orange, and if you keep committing crimes and such, your cursor will become red. Laughing Coffin is full of red players." Kirito said.

Silica sighed, Oblivion said, "Kayaba is a sad strange little man for doing this, but, at the same time, the technology behind the Nervegear is groundbreaking."

Just then, the waiter came with their food, and they started eating.

The Next Day, Floor 45 : Floria

Oblivion, Kirito, and Silica just arrived, Silica gasped in awe as her eyes were met with a field full of flowers, Oblivion laughed and said, "Look around."

"Wh-what for?" Silica asked, before realizing there were multiple couples around them, Silica's face turned red, Oblivion laughed again.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not single, however, Kirito here, well, he's completely available." Oblivion said, Kirito let out a soft growl before nudging his shoulder. "Well I'm only kidding, besides, we should get going."

 **An Hour Later**

"There it is, sitting there, ready to be grabbed by whoever's there to get it. Let's get over there before we get overrun by monsters." Oblivion said.

Silica gasped in joy and ran off towards the flower. "Wow, she's excited to get her hands on that flower." Kirito said.

"Well you would feel the same way, I mean wouldn't you?" Oblivion asked.

"Well you already know the answer to that, somewhat…" Kirito said, they started walking over to the flower, when they arrived, Silica already grabbed the flower and put it in her inventory.

"We should get going, Pina would probably find it best to be revived at home." Oblivion said. Silica nodded and the three started walking back, they were about to walk across a bridge, Silica tried continuing down, Kirito stopped her and Oblivion stood by.

"Whoever's hiding behind that tree, come on out now!" Kirito yelled straightforward.

Not surprisingly, Rosalia showed herself, "Wow, you're detection skill must be high to be able to see through my hiding skill."

"Yeah well you can tell your friends to come on out too." Oblivion said, even though he knew they were there, he still saw through each of their hiding skills as well.

"Friends? What are you talking about?" Rosalia asked, trying to avoid further complication.

"They're orange players, you told them to go after Silica, but they won't get to her unless you can pry her off my dead corpse." Oblivion said, drawing his sword.

Rosalia grunted, before snapping her fingers, the others revealed themselves with their weapons readied. "Holy shit, black and green cloak, black and red sword, Rosalia, you know who that is right?" One of them asked.

"No, what's so special about his stupid cloak?" Rosalia asked.

"He's the leader of the Fury Knights guild, the one that fights on the front lines with the Knights of the Blood Oath! Plus, look who's with him, the one in black, that's Kirito, from the assault team, the Black Swordsman!" Another one of them said.

"Really? If they really were fighting on the front lines, then what the hell are they doing all the way down here? Kill them both!" Rosalia commanded.

Oblivion didn't have a battle recovery skill like Kirito does, nor did he have any healing skills, he did however have a skill called "Reflex Tester" that allowed him to move 150mph for 1 second, enough time and speed to cut each one and leave them lying on the ground. Oblivion activated the skill once he saw them charge at him and Kirito, he then moved around each of them in a semi-circle like fashion and had cut them each, while he had Slicer in his hand as well, each of them would keel over and succumb to the intense pain it caused.

"W-what kind of skill was that!? That's complete bullshit!" Rosalia protested.

"Well, it's a rare skill, that I got on a much higher floor, during a boss raid on the front lines. Complete bullshit I wouldn't say as it only lasts for a second, but it does come in handy against you petty orange players…" Oblivion said, the orange players growled in anger. It was then, Oblivion pulled out the corridor crystal and said, "So, our client bought this expensive crystal just so we can send your sorry ass to prison, the prison of the Knights of the Blood Oath guild."

"You can't, you won't, I won't be taken in!" Rosalia said, she turned and attempted to run, however, Kirito charged towards her and carefully placed his sword by the front of her neck.

"If you kill me, you will become orange." Rosalia warned, concerned for herself and not him, not surprisingly.

"I'm a solo player, I don't care if I have to play orange for a couple of days." Kirito said, before he used his other hand to signal Oblivion to use the crystal, and he did, sending her to prison.

 **15 Minutes Later, Floor 35**

"Sorry, we used you as bait to send Rosalia to prison, I hope you aren't mad." Kirito said.

"No worries, besides, I got what I wanted, you guys got your quest done, win-win situation." Silica said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Oblivion said.

Silica then took out both Pina's feather and the Pneuma Flower and used the flower, in a matter of seconds, Pina came back to life.


	19. Arc 1 Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **One Month Later**

Oblivion was walking through the halls of his headquarters, thinking about who to make the second in command, as the guild had none currently. The five people he trusted the most were of his party, he could pick Platia, Philia, Strea, Lisbeth, or Rhen. He went ahead and asked Lisbeth about the job, but of course, she said she was more comfortable with the blacksmith work than a second in command job, Oblivion went ahead and asked everyone else, the only one who was really up for the job was Rhen. Oblivion trusted Rhen, and Rhen trusted Oblivion, he believed he could count on him for sure.

"I think I'm gonna have to choose Rhen, but first, we should put you in the shoes of a second in command and do a scenario before you're gonna take on the job for real." Oblivion said.

"Okay, so where to anyways?" Rhen asked.

"Come with me to the briefing room, I'll give you a scenario and you can practice strategizing." Oblivion said.

Rhen nodded, and Oblivion escorted Rhen to the briefing room, they both sat down and Oblivion pulled out a map. It had several dots coloured in blue in one area and in another area had red dots, they represented different warrior teams, Oblivion was going to test his ability to strategize, and if all doesn't go well, he'll either get someone else or he'll tell Rhen to practice more.

"Which colour would you pick?" Oblivion asked.

Red had more warriors and had a better spot, whereas Blue had less and a geographically rough spot. Rhen would obviously pick Red. "I would pick red." Rhen said.

"Well, forget about being Red, you're Blue. Now, you're in a geographically rough area, let's say your warriors are fucking acting like babies and start complaining halfway across the field, what do you do to stop the problem?" Oblivion asked.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't be hiring babies, or maybe we should have trained them like men beforehand, don't you think?" Rhen asked.

"Right, but, right now, you have whining babies for troops, you gonna hire new guys on the spot?" Oblivion asked, he knew Rhen would have to compensate for these types of situations, if he didn't know how to, then the outcome of each mission would be clouded.

"I'd get someone to get them all to snap out of that shit, and if they don't snap out of it, then they can leave the guild altogether." Rhen said.

"Alright, how about we imagine that the Red warriors are actually 5-15 meter tall monsters or some other shit, what would you do?" Oblivion asked.

Rhen placed his palm on his forehead and said, "Um, fight them? No, you run from the things, what the fuck were we thinking fighting those things?"

"Well maybe they ate our comrades alive, and puked them all out later, but, now they're dead, those things killed our friends, shouldn't we kill them?" Oblivion said, testing Rhen to test if he would fight powerful monsters to avenge his comrades, or just forget about it all and run.

"That depends, if they ate you for example, I'd definitely figure out how to kill them." Rhen said.

"So only for the people you care most about?" Oblivion asked.

"No, I meant for anyone I even cared about." Rhen said.

Oblivion smiled, and said, "You wouldn't go alone, would you?"

"If that's what I have to do, then I'll do it." Rhen said.

Oblivion nodded and said, "Let's say Red is about equal to us in experience, and equipment, and that if we aren't careful, we might get killed by most of them, what would you suggest we do to keep ourselves up in the stakes of winning?"

"Well if they are equal to us in just those two things, then maybe we have to take in consideration what they're not good at and use that as an advantage to defeat them." Rhen said.

Oblivion nodded and put away the map and got up, he gestured Rhen to get up and so after he did, Oblivion said, "Well, you got the job, you seem like you know how to problem solve for sure." Oblivion said.

Rhen nodded and said, "Well, what should we do no-" Rhen was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming against the wall loudly.

"Oblivion, you need to come with me, right now." Platia said, who came in through the door.

Oblivion nodded and walked over to her and asked, "Can I ask what's going on first?"

"My sister, a guild member found her, she's been captured by Laughing Coffin, we need to get over there now." Platia said, grabbing Oblivion by the wrist and starts walking him outside headquarters.

"By ourselves? This is ridiculous Platia! You realize LC won't hesitate to kill us, right?" Oblivion asked.

"Neither will we." Platia said, furiously.

Oblivion knew the alternate version of him was furious and bloodthirsty against Laughing Coffin, but, he did not know Platia would be this furious to hear her sister was kidnapped, as the other Oblivion told him that Platia was just an innocent girl. Platia pulled out her teleport crystal and she had teleported to another floor, Oblivion was teleported with her.

 **25 Minutes Later**

Platia and Oblivion walked through the dungeon for 10 minutes, without any signs of Platia's sister being inside, only until they just heard a squeal just ahead of them, Platia gasped, and Oblivion said, "C'mon, we should hurry." He took her hand and ran with her through, they saw her, inside a room, strapped to a chair. Oblivion stepped in, and suddenly, a man stepped in front of them wearing a skull mask, the blazing red eyes glared into Oblivion's blue pupils like fire, Oblivion knew right then and there, they were done for, it was XaXa. He turned and had executed the girl in front of them, stabbing her through the neck with a dagger. Suddenly, Oblivion felt it, the pure anger the other Oblivion felt when he claimed 100 lives with his sword, all of which were Laughing Coffin members. Oblivion drew his sword and was about to swing at XaXa, only until he threw a smoke pellet and ran off quickly. Oblivion took Platia by the hand and started running out the dungeon, halfway through, they were stopped by a Laughing Coffin member who jumped from the shadows and kicked them down to the ground. XaXa came out again with a longsword in his hand, he walked over to the two, insanely, but, only half a meter away, a figure came out and sliced his hand clean off. XaXa ran off again, and the figure who cut off his hand turned to Oblivion and Platia, it was Kirito.

"There was another one, did you?-" Oblivion asked.

"He's not gonna be getting up anytime soon, now come on, you need to get out of here." Kirito said.

 **25 Minutes Later - FK Briefing Room**

Oblivion's party, all except for Lisbeth, who Oblivion wasn't able to contact for some reason, was in the briefing room with Kirito, discussing what had happened in the dungeon. Oblivion hasn't spoken at all, all he could feel was the anger that flowed through him. He kept hearing a voice in his head saying, "It's not worth it." Over and over again. He did not recognize this voice, that was for sure, that's what scared him.

"So, your sister was killed, in front of you and Oblivion?" Kirito asked Platia.

She nodded, shedding tears as she did. "She was killed by the same guy that you chopped their hand off." Platia said.

"His username was Red Eyed XaXa." Oblivion said, softly, doing his best to hide his anger.

"How did you know? He had a hood on, there's no way you could have saw his cursor, wouldn't that include his name as well?" Kirito asked.

"He had a mask on as well, but, my identification skill was able to see through it." Oblivion lied.

Kirito nodded, and turned over to Rhen, and said, "So, you're the second in command, am I right?" Rhen nodded. "Did you know that Oblivion and Platia went off to save Platia's sister?"

Rhen nodded again, and said, "I was following them outside headquarters, only until Platia teleported off, I didn't know where they went off to."

Kirito nodded, and said, "I will see if I can talk to Heathcliff about tracking this guy down, until then, we just have to accept what happened and find some closure."

Everyone nodded, Kirito left the room, everyone else stayed inside, Platia put her head on the table and started crying, everyone else sighed. "This kind of shit always happens, to me anyways." Oblivion said. "That's what I said to my friend as we buried a good friend of mine, he was run over, however, my friend had said something to me on the phone after I told him that he died, and it wasn't very nice, I'll tell you that."

"So how did you accept his death?" Platia asked, over her quiet crying.

"He's not dead, he was reincarnated, just in another universe, a universe I didn't think existed, or was even possible to exist at all, but it's there, and so is this one, but why?Why should we die if we end up waking up somewhere else, just so we can die again?" Oblivion said.

"Maybe that's the one thing in existence that's infinite, life itself." Philia said.

"No, because matter can also not be destroyed, but it also can't be created, but if matter can't be created, then, how is everything exists as it does today? Because matter can be created, by a god with the power to create whatever they so please." Oblivion said.

"A god? You can't be serious." Rhen said.

"I'm no god, but the power I behold came from a god, that very god is dead as we speak." Oblivion said.

"What god are you talking about?" Platia asked, raising her head.

"I'm talking about the one that was first to come, first to create, first to be existent. The god without an exact name, the god from Christianity, Catholic, and Jewish religions. The god who bears all the power of each god combined, apparently can be killed, it just takes a lot of work to not be killed by him." Oblivion explained.

"Then, shouldn't we all be dead by now?" Platia asked.

"We could have, however, God had gave me an amulet to give to my friend before all the life in him died away, all of his power was given to my friend, he is God now, supposedly." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, and you think he's the only god you know?" A voice said, from behind Oblivion. He turned to see a figure wearing a mask faze up through the floor, with a black crow on his shoulder. It was obviously Alex, but, something seemed off, Oblivion felt a source of power coming from him.

"Where were you all this time?" Oblivion asked.

"Well, after the whole expedition me and you went on, I went off to kill the supernatural, later on, I found Caleb again, on my own, I went and helped him make a little mercenary guild, we went and ran into the alternate you, he was pretty clumsy at first, but he became one angry motherfucker that took 100 lives, because a girl that kinda looked like her died." Alex said, pointing towards Platia.

"So why are you wearing that now?" Oblivion asked.

"I went off on my own after I saved Caleb's hide, having to die as a Lich and be reborn as a god, I went off and started killing other gods." Alex said. "I really don't have a true name anymore, so might you start calling me Wolf now instead?"

"Of course, but, why the hell are you killing other gods? Don't we need them to finish off this satanic bullshit?" Oblivion asked.

"I want more power, their power isn't going to waste if I'm the one using it. The mask is more of an honour thing, not that I can take it off anyways, it's been seared to my face due to magical energy, also, not my choice that I had it seared onto my face." Wolf said.

"Besides getting the mask stuck to your face, you guys are lucky, all I can do is travel universes." Oblivion said.

"You know, I can make you a true Godborn if you want, but you have to do something for me." Wolf offered.

"Okay, well, what do you want from me exactly?" Oblivion asked.

"There's a powerful gemstone inside your Godborn amulet, it's the gem that gives you the power you have. They are very ancient, and are yet to be given an English name. It's called Kseijrmel." Wolf said.

"Ker-mal?" Oblivion said, trying to pronounce the name.

"That's how it's pronounced, however, the actual spelling is different, it's in an ancient God language that all us gods know, called, Ginskijmr." Wolf said.

"Okay, so, how many of these gemstones are you looking for?" Oblivion asked.

"There is a total of 5 stones, each of them are inside an amulet, much like yours. These gemstones can be used to create a weapon that, in theory, would be much more powerful than anything in the entire multiverse. It can cause cause a storm more powerful that could destroy an entire planet, but after use, the gemstones will be shattered, forever, and the weapon will evaporate." Wolf explained.

"Holy fucking shit, and what are you gonna use it for?" Oblivion asked.

"To end this satanic bullshit." Wolf said.


	20. Arc 1 Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **1 Day Later - Oblivion's House**

"I told you, it's probably safer you wait until I'm out of SAO before you take the gem out of my amulet, and are you sure it's safe to take it out?" Oblivion asked.

"Yes it's safe, only if the amulet isn't being worn, and besides, I can just take you outside of SAO easily, why do you need to be here until SAO is cleared?" Wolf asked.

"Well, for one, my girlfriend is here, all the others are here, I need to get them all out, by clearing this game." Oblivion said.

"Ooh, you and Liz got together? Or, is it someone else?" Wolf asked.

"No, it's Liz. Wait a minute, she never met you, and she gets pissed whenever I invite someone else in the house without her knowing beforehand." Oblivion said.

Wolf sighed, "Well, I guess it's good that I'm a time traveler as well." He said, opening a portal and walking through. Just then, Lisbeth came in through the front door, she saw Oblivion was on the couch all by himself.

"What have you been doing since I was gone? Just sitting there?" Lisbeth asked.

"Umm, I just sat down, after putting something in the oven." Oblivion said.

"Yeah but, doesn't cooking shit in the oven take like 10 seconds?" Lisbeth asked.

"Huh? Oh shit I forgot." Oblivion said, getting off the couch and running to the oven to check the food, or rather, the food that was never even put in the oven. "Heh, um, I can explain." Oblivion said.

"Okay, this is the fourth time already. Who came?" Lisbeth asked, slightly agitated.

"A friend of mine." Oblivion said.

"Yeah? What friend?" Lisbeth asked.

"Umm, his name is Alex, you don't know him, but, he just stopped by to ask me something." Oblivion said.

"Okay, but next time, can you please tell me?" Lisbeth asked.

"I would have, if he didn't come out of the ground…" Oblivion mumbled.

"Now, did you make dinner at all?" Lisbeth asked. Oblivion nodded, and pointed towards a pot, with 6 servings of stew in it, enough for everyone. "I guess we gotta wait for everyone else to get home."

10 minutes later, the others came in and sat down, Oblivion served everyone's dinner and sat down. "So, how's the second in command work going Rhen?" Oblivion asked.

"It's a bit tedious at times, but, it's been working out quite well." Rhen said.

Oblivion turned over to Platia, who didn't eat at all since they got home, he said, "Platia, I understand you're upset over your sister's death, but, you gotta eat something at the very least."

"I'm not hungry." She replied, quietly. She got up and went upstairs into her room.

Oblivion got up and said, "I'm just gonna go make sure she's not doing anything harsh, like, maybe suicide," Everyone nodded, and Oblivion went upstairs and sat outside her room, since his listening skill was high enough, he could hear everything that was going on inside. He heard sounds coming from what Oblivion believed was Platia's menu, he got worried about what she was doing and opened the door, instantly, Platia closed her menu and turned away, crying.

Oblivion walked over and sat by her and said, "My friend was suicidal, he's not anymore, but, he feels like an ass now that he looks back, seeing he has friends on his side."

"I'm not trying to kill myself." Platia mumbled.

"Then what were you sending?" Oblivion asked.

"Nothing." Platia mumbled. "I thought I could save her, I thought I was invincible, turns out, I'm not."

"Nobody is invincible, and it's not your fault she died, in the other me's universe, it was you who died, and your sister was happy for the other me, because he was willing to do something she wasn't able to on her own, and not even he did it by himself, he needed help." Oblivion said.

"Did she help?" Platia asked.

"No, but she was very grateful that he avenged the other you." Oblivion said. Platia turned to Oblivion, with a smile on her face, she still was crying, she wrapped her arms around Oblivion, as did he, "You two will be reunited, once this is done and gone."

Platia let go and nodded, she had stopped crying now, the two walked out the room and down the stairs, into the kitchen, they sit down at the table and continued eating.

Lisbeth leaned over to Oblivion and whispered, "What happened?"

"She was upset, she was trying to message someone, I stopped her, just to make sure she wasn't trying to have someone come over to have her killed." Oblivion whispered back.

Lisbeth nodded and whispered, "And she's okay?"

"Yeah, I told her that her sister was alive in another universe, and that I can reunite them." Oblivion said.

 **3 Days Later**

"So this Kains person was murdered in a safe zone?" Oblivion asked Kirito and Asuna, sitting with them and another person in a restaurant.

"Supposedly, I mean there was a noose wrapped around his neck and a spear through his chest, he did explode." Kirito said.

"And, Yolko witnessed the whole thing? Does she know who did it?" Oblivion asked.

Yolko said, "No, I think I did see someone behind him run off, not that there actually could have been."

"You guys got the spear, right?" Oblivion asked. Kirito nodded. "Bring it to Agil to have him look at it."

"Uh, okay then, Asuna, let's finish eating real quick and then go." Kirito said.

"Oh, and, Yolko, we'll need to see you again later, I understand you and Kains were in a guild together, if you still know any of your guild mates, bring 'em over." Oblivion said. Yolko nodded.

 **15 Minutes Later - Agil's Shop**

"It was made from someone named Grimlock… That's a name I never heard, that's for damn sure." Agil said.

"Maybe he was in the guild?" Oblivion asked.

"Maybe, we should ask Yolko next time around, but if only we knew how dangerous this weapon was." Asuna said. Just 7 seconds later, Kirito picked up the spear and pointed the tip towards his palm. Asuna leaned close and grabbed Kirito by the wrist, and said, "What the hell are you thinking!?"

"You said you wanted to know how dangerous this was." Kirito said.

"Yeah, that doesn't mean you go and try and stab yourself on the hand!" Asuna said.

Oblivion leaned closer and grabbed the spear himself and pulled it from Kirito and Asuna's grasp, he made a small incision on his wrist, he smiled, "It hurts just like a normal sword would, nothing like my Slicer sword would deal, it's not a very special spear I can guarantee that. I want to know for sure what it can really do, so I'm gonna take it myself and have my girlfriend take a look at it, she'll know what metal it was made of and everything."

"Smiling after cutting yourself in the wrist, that's pretty sick and twisted." Agil mumbled, very quietly, even quiet enough for Kirito not to hear, but, Oblivion heard due to his focused Listening Skill.

"Yeah it really is, my friend did that a lot, I kept telling him not to, he never

listened, and believe me, not being listened to pisses me off." Oblivion said.

"You heard that? You would have needed a Listening Skill of 75 to do that." Agil pointed out.

"Yeah, I know that." Oblivion said, getting up. "Well, when you guys want the spear, just say the word." He said, walking out the door.

 **The next day - Lisbeth's Shop**

"You're kidding! Someone was killed in a safe zone!? By this thing!?" Lisbeth asked, worried about Oblivion and the case he was pursuing.

"Hmm, yeah, pretty much." Oblivion said, looking out the window.

"No, that can't be, you're not telling me the truth and I know you know what happened." Lisbeth said.

"Okay fine, the guy faked his death, he had the sword through his own chest and it could have killed him, only if he didn't teleport away, he may have teleported but it looked like he exploded to me, that's for sure." Oblivion said.

Lisbeth sighed in relief, she picked up the spear and asked, "You had thing thing appraised already, didn't you?"

"Yeah I did, you remember Agil right? He was at the boss fight with us on Floor 1, I had him appraise it for me." Oblivion said, as he took out a couple sandwiches from his inventory and handed one over to Lisbeth.

The two sat down, after a few seconds of eating, Lisbeth stopped and asked, "Have you had a girlfriend in your universe?"

"A girlfriend? Naw, didn't bother to go and get one for myself, even if someone came to me and said they liked me, it usually doesn't work out." Oblivion said.

"Why is that?" Lisbeth asked.

"I wish I knew, it kills me every time I look back at that time of my past, and by kill, I don't mean I find it funny, I find it demeaning and I don't really like looking back to it." Oblivion said.

"Well, I like you, you obviously like me, this is working out, isn't it?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yeah, but then again, this whole thing could be a really really realistic dream." Oblivion said.

"I dunno about that, I'm feeling pretty conscious about the decisions I make, and I don't think we're in a dream." Lisbeth said.

"Yeah I know, I'm kidding." Oblivion said, he yawned, "You wanna get to bed now?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's get home." Lisbeth said.


	21. Arc 1 Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **The next day**

Oblivion opened the door of the Inn and walked over to the room he expected Kirito and Asuna to be in, with Schmidt and Yolko. He opened the door and asked, "You got him?"

"Yup, he's here." Kirito said.

Oblivion leaned against the wall beside Kirito, and Schmidt started talking. "So Kains was killed in a safe zone. Was anyone else from the guild killed?"

"Not since Griselda, no, just Kains, and I think it had something to do with Griselda and the ring." Yolko said.

"Well I knew we shouldn't have voted to sell the ring! What are they trying to kill us off because we did?" Schmidt asked.

"I don't know, but, he was killed in a safe zone, maybe… A ghost…" Yolko stopped herself.

"A ghost? You're kidding." Schmidt said, somewhat nervously.

"A player can't kill off another player in a safe zone, but something like a ghost could." Yolko said.

"If that's true, she'd be after us all for revenge! Just because we voted to sell the damn ring! We're not even safe in these damned towns anymore!" Schmidt said.

"That's right, I couldn't sleep last night, I was thinking. We shouldn't have voted for the ring! She's come back to kill us all!" Yolko freakishly said, nervously. She got off the chair, and backed up towards the window and leaned on the frame. "How can we be safe? I know it may have been our fault for voting to sell the ring, but…"

Then, it happened, her eyes widened, and she turned, revealing a knife, as she fell from the window, Kirito rushed forward and yelled, "Yolko!" Reaching his hand outside. Yolko landed on the ground beneath them and exploded into shards. Just then, Oblivion nudged Kirito to the side and jumped out the window, spotting the figure, on the roof opposite of them. Oblivion landed and drew his sword, activating a speed skill as well and chased the guy. He knew he wasn't required to catch the guy, as he knew who it was, he kept running though, but eventually, he teleported away.

Oblivion walked back to the inn, and opened the door to the room, and right away, Asuna turned drawing her rapier, and said, "You idiot! Why would you do that!?"

"Schmidt, the cloak, tell me about it." Oblivion ordered.

"It… It was Griselda's, it's true, Griselda has come back for revenge, she'll kill me as well." Schmidt said, he then started laughing insanely.

"Man, poor guy…" Oblivion whispered.

Asuna sheathed her Rapier and said, "Look, me and Kirito should get going, you should probably protect your girlfriend, and your party, there's no way to tell if they'll be safe on their own."

"I'll be leaving you guys to the rest of the case then, if you need help, I'll be there." Oblivion said.

 **The next day**

Oblivion woke up to a message, which almost unluckily woke Lisbeth up, who was lying by him, fast asleep. Oblivion quietly got up and checked the message, it was from Kirito, and he said he finished the case, and ran into Laughing Coffin. Oblivion went into the bathroom and changed into his armour, walked out of the room, only to see Lisbeth waking up, Oblivion sat down by her and said, "They got the case done."

"How'd it go for them?" Lisbeth asked.

"They figured out that they faked their deaths, and found out that Schmidt was responsible for slipping a crystal in Griselda's room. But they ran into Laughing Coffin, which makes me wonder, if they are known to LC, could we be as well? Maybe they were just hired though, but, are we safe? That's all I wanna know." Oblivion said.

"Well the guards seem ready for those kind of cases all the time. I would be surprised if one of them got in undetected." Lisbeth said.

"Yeah, well, we should get ready, besides, we have work to do at the shop, and then some here, for our new guild members." Oblivion said.

 **June 24th 2024 - Lisbeth's Shop**

"There's something wrong with one of the pipes here Oblivion." Lisbeth said, who was trying to fix something.

"A simple pipe? Alright, let me see." Oblivion said, sitting down where she was, Lisbeth got up and checked the counter. Oblivion looked at the pipe, there was too much pressure building up inside one time it seemed, resulting it to pop open. Oblivion took out the tools he needed to fix the pipe, it took him about 5 minutes, but he finished, got up, and heard the shattering of a sword in the other room, Oblivion ran in to check if something was wrong, but then he remembered something.

He walked in, saw Kirito in the room, obviously guilty about something, and Lisbeth was on her knees, Kirito broke one of her swords. She got up and her face red as a beet, she turned to Oblivion and said, "This guy totally just broke one of my swords!"

"Hey Kirito, clumsy as always." Oblivion joked.

"Wait! You know him!?" Lisbeth asked, angrily.

"Whoa, don't get hasty, that sword wasn't even too hard to make, we could make 50 of them if we wanted, and besides, just wants a new sword." Oblivion said.

"Fine, but the metal he wants is guarded by a dragon, he'll also need a master blacksmith to get it." Lisbeth said.

"Alright, no problemo, hey Oblivion, you leveled up your smithing all the way, right?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah but if we leave Liz here, she'd feel left out." Oblivion said.

"Alright, well let's just get our stuff ready, I don't have all day." Lisbeth said, still mad. Kirito nodded and left the building, and waited outside, "Now I have to pick your brain about something."

"I know what you're gonna ask me, it'll either be, 'Oh how come you didn't tell me he was coming today?' Or 'How come you didn't tell me he would break my sword?'" Oblivion said.

"Then answer both." Lisbeth said.

"Okay, number one, I forgot he'd be coming at this specific time, two, I would have if I knew he was coming today." Oblivion said.

"Good, that answers my question. Now get your stuff ready, I already have my stuff." Lisbeth said.

"Same." Oblivion said. "Except you forgot one thing."

"What now?" Lisbeth asked.

Oblivion pulled out a coat from behind the counter and tossed it over to Lisbeth, she caught it, and Oblivion said, "I know Kirito wouldn't mind lending you his coat, but you might as well take this one."

"And what about you? Aren't you taking a coat?" Lisbeth asked.

Oblivion quickly opened his inventory and equipped a coat for himself. "You know I always carry one for myself."

 **Two Hours Later**

"Maybe if I didn't get so used to Japan's warmer weather, I wouldn't feel so cold right now." Oblivion said, swiping through his inventory.

"We're almost there Oblivion, just hang in there." Kirito said.

The three walked up the mountain, for about 15 minutes longer. Then they saw the blue dragon flying around when they got to the top, Kirito and Oblivion drew their swords, and Lisbeth drew her mace.

"Well, Lisbeth, this thing might be a pain in the ass to fight, but you're prepared, right!?" Oblivion said, raising his voice, due to the noise level in the area.

"Yep, no worries." Lisbeth said.

"Alright, when you're ready Kirito." Oblivion said.

Kirito charged the dragon, and a second later, so did Oblivion and Lisbeth. Kirito got the first strike, slicing it's hand clean off, Oblivion swung at the wing, but only managed to leave a small hole, making it a little more difficult for the dragon to fly.

"You know what's funny guys!?" Oblivion said, landing on the slippery surface beneath him, almost falling over.

"What!?" Kirito yelled, over all the noise.

"I remember drinking hot lemon shit when I was 12 on Christmas, because I got a flu, but honestly, this shit is more stupid! We'd be lucky to be alive for 5 minutes from now!" Oblivion said, blocking a strike from the dragon, who swung its tail at him.

The three continued to fight the dragon, until Lisbeth was smacked across the fighting field by the dragon's wing. Oblivion used his Reflex Tester skill to dash towards Lisbeth and catch her, but they were over a big hole, Kirito went down with them, and they landed on the ground.

 **5 Minutes Later**

"You were out for 5 minutes, if you hadn't catched me, I'd probably be dead, and I'm surprised you two survived that fall." Lisbeth said.

"Great… What time is it?" Oblivion asked.

"9:27." Kirito said.

"We'll have to crash here, just as long as the dragon doesn't use this giant hole as his toilet and take a fucking shit on us, we'll be good." Oblivion said. He then pulled out three sleeping bags from his inventory.

"It is getting dark, we should get a fire started too." Lisbeth said. She pulled out the stuff they needed to start said fire, and Kirito started working on it.

"I sure like camping though, did that a lot as a kid, I miss that now." Oblivion said, setting up the sleeping bags. He stopped and turned his head and looked at Lisbeth's direction, who looked cold. Oblivion walked over and held her close, trying to get her warm.

"You never camped out in the winter ever, have you?" Lisbeth asked.

"Not that I recall. But I do miss a lot of winter activities back where I lived. I miss a lot of my family and friends too, but I'm glad I get to spend this time with you guys." Oblivion said.

"Fire's ready." Kirito said. Oblivion and Lisbeth got up, got their sleeping bags, and laid down by the fire.

 **The Next Day**

Oblivion and Lisbeth woke up to see Kirito digging in the snow. "What's he doing?" Lisbeth whispered to herself.

"You'll see." Oblivion whispered.

Kirito continued digging, and pulled out a shiny object from the snow. "This is the metal we came all the way here for. Take a look." Kirito said, passing it to Lisbeth.

Oblivion went in front of her and caught it himself, "I told you this was the dragon's toilet, this is its shit right here." He said.

"Well good thing you went and did that because I'm not touching that." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion passed it to Kirito. "Maybe we should try running up." Kirito suggested.

"That won't work." Oblivion said. "The dragon might come, and if he does, we'll use it, stab the bitch and fly out of here, and then use our teleport crystals once we get out."

"That might work. Considering I think the dragon's coming right now." Kirito said.

 **A/N: I know I've been inactive with writing this story for a long time. I've been busy, but now I should be able to get back to writing. Of course I've been writing with Yozila, in fact we finished our Fate's Hand Online project, and now we're making a crossover story of SAO and RWBY. The first chapter will be released this month. Now for Multiverse, I have a new plan for the story, I will end off after the ALO arc, I will try and make more interesting, as not a lot of people like that arc. Then I will make a 3rd arc, but that information will be kept to myself right now. Also, Nero should be getting his own story soon (not sure if we'll continue the project). Anyways, see you next chapter.**


	22. Arc 1 Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **A/N: Sorry for not writing at all recently, I've been quite busy, and also, I was going to cancel Multiverse, but I had a realization that I had to finish it, so hopefully, Yozila helps me finish this story, as I planned to do all the arcs up until Mother's Rosario. I also am going to start a new project which will be released hopefully this winter.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy.**

The dragon flew downwards into the nest, and the three drew their weapons, but Lisbeth was at a disadvantage, due to having a mace and not a sword. "Um, Oblivion, how the hell am I supposed to latch onto that thing with this!?"

Oblivion picked her up and used his Reflex Tester skill to dash upwards towards the dragon, and stabbed it with Slicer. Kirito had also made it onto the dragon as well, and the dragon flew upwards and out of the hole. The three had let go after reaching a high enough altitude to be able to teleport before landing. The three then teleported right away.

Upon arrival, Kirito pulled the metal from his inventory and handed it to Lisbeth, who unwillingly took the metal knowing that it was dragon feces, and placed it onto an anvil. "Well, you wanted a sword, so it's my job now to make it." She said. She then started working on the metal, and soon, it was done.

"Dark Repulser. Now that's a sword if you ask me." Oblivion said. He handed Kirito the sword and said, "Well, try it out."

Kirito swung the sword a few times, and smiled. "It's heavy, and badass. I like it!" He said, enthusiastically.

"Well it's good that you like it." Lisbeth said.

"So, what do I owe you again?" Kirito asked.

"Hmm, about that… I was going to say something to you. I want to be your personal blacksmith. Besides, that sword will need to be repaired a lot, don't you think Oblivion?" Lisbeth said.

"Of course, no sword lasts forever, unless, it's programmed to do so, considering we're in a game." Oblivion said.

Kirito nodded, but then, someone burst through the door, it was Asuna, "Lisbeth!? Where the hell were you!?" She yelled.

"Umm, I- I can explain." Lisbeth said, worriedly.

Asuna then jumped down and then wrapped her arms around her, tightly, and said, "I couldn't see you on the map at all last night! I thought something bad happened!"

"Well we're fine. Your friend Kirito here just had me and Oblivion pick up a metal, we had to camp out somewhere." Lisbeth said.

"Wait… Oh of course, I should've known, I remember telling Kirito about you. But how come you had to camp out?" Asuna asked, curiously.

"We fell in a hole." Oblivion said.

"How big?" Asuna asked.

"Ginormous." Oblivion said.

"Holy crap, you three could have died, like I mean, think about that." Asuna said.

"We're alive, and that's all that matters." Kirito said.

 **October 9th 2024 - 74th Floor**

"Being a front liner is hard work, don't you think Oblivion?" Rhen asked.

The group were exploring floor 74, in a forested area, with their guild and all the other front liners. They had cleared floor 73 five days ago. The game had seemed to be getting increasingly difficult, and they had been losing players because of it, Oblivion's guild however remains the largest Floor Clearing Guild. "Of course it's hard work, but it's for a good cause." Oblivion said.

"Well I'm starving, so can we please stop and take a break?" Lisbeth said.

"Alright then, we'll take turns, after all, we're outside the safe zones, we could get socked. Me and Rhen will defend you, Strea, Philia, and Platia. After 10 minutes, Me and Rhen will switch with Strea and Philia. The group fell over and lied on the ground, exhausted. "Or maybe I'll have to protect your dead weight myself…" He whispered to himself. Oblivion guarded the group for five minutes, before he heard rustling in a bush nearby. Oblivion then gestured the group to stay quiet and motionless. Oblivion moved towards the area where he heard the noise. He walked slowly, the faint rustling noise became louder over time. Eventually, it stopped, and so did Oblivion.

He waited. One second… Two seconds…. Three seconds….. Four seconds… And five seconds. A player lunged out from a bush and shot a beam of white light at Oblivion from their sword, however, Oblivion saw the beam quickly enough to just about duck under the beam, he felt the heat from the beam, which meant it could have hurt him extra bad. Oblivion drew Fryz, the player then swung his blade horizontally at Oblivion. Oblivion batted his sword back, and the player swung again, vertically this time, Oblivion batted his sword back once again, and quickly landed a small cut on the player's hip, freezing a small area around the cut. The player fell over in pain, from both the cut and the freezing cold around it.

"Okay! You win!" The player exclaimed, as he held his palms over his wound.

Oblivion then looked through his inventory and equipped a potion, that would heal his injuries. "Who are you?" Oblivion asked, with a faint smile on his face, he was impressed by his skills.

"Whit." He said.

"Well Whit. I dunno if you know this, but I'm the leader of the guild known as the Fury Knights." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, I know." Whit said.

"Well I'm actually impressed with your skills." Oblivion said. He then opened his menu, and pulled up a guild invite window and swiped it to Whit. "If you're looking for work, you can help me explore this floor, and in return, get paid." Whit accepted the invite, and reached out his hand for Oblivion to help him up, Oblivion did. "Welcome to the Fury Knights, Whit." Oblivion said, smiling.

 **October 18th 2024**

 **Floor 74 Dungeon**

Oblivion decided to map out the dungeon by himself. He handled the enemies inside just fine, he brought stuff in case of an emergency too, so he knew he'd be fine. While he was walking through, he heard noises from not too far away, footsteps, Oblivion decided to investigate.

He looked ahead and hid behind a pillar, he saw a group of people, Klein, and Kirito and Asuna. "Hey Kirito, how're doing buddy!" One of them said, Klein, to be exact.

"Hey Klein, still alive, huh?" Kirito replied.

"Jeez, you're the same as ever." Klein said. "Wait, woah, you're a solo player, what the heck are you doing with a-, girl?"

"I coulda swore you two met at one of the boss fights." Kirito said, looking at Asuna, Asuna looked at Klein, who froze. "I'll introduce you, this is Klein, of the Fuurinkazan guild." Kirito turned his head towards Klein, "And this is Asuna, of the Knight's of the Blood Oath." Kirito noticed Klein's frozen expression, and said, "Hey what's wrong? You lagging?"

Oblivion sighed, and used his Reflex Tester skill and a stealth skill to launch himself over behind them, and land, without a peep. Though Klein saw him, and he forgot about Asuna and drew his attention towards Oblivion, and he said, "Kirito! Behind you!"

Kirito jumped, drawing his Elucidator, and turned. When he saw it was only Oblivion, he sheathed his sword and sighed. "It's just Oblivion. Didn't know he was here though."

"Well I just saw you guys across from over to the left there, so I just thought I'd tag along." Oblivion said.

"Anyways, what's the deal Kirito? I thought you were a solo player." Klein said.

"Actually, me and Kirito are together because we're sort of in a party." Asuna said.

Klein's guild and Kirito turned to her, "Kirito, you son of a-" Klein tried to finish.

Kirito said, "Wait wait, I can explain." They then heard footsteps behind them. The Aincrad Liberation Army, was walking towards the boss door, which Oblivion and the group were, obviously, standing in front of. "What the hell? That's an army." Kirito said.

"The Aincrad Liberation Army, they run floor one. Almost got socked completely on floor 25. Recently, they've been building up their numbers, instead of clearing levels." Oblivion explained, before Klein, or Asuna could.

"I haven't seen them on the front lines for a long while." Asuna said.

"At ease!" One of them said. The group stopped and everyone but one sat down, exhausted.

"Look now, he's pushing their limits, and they're just coming up here, and what's he gonna do? Make 'em all go up against the boss? I seen that thing and he's a huge fucker." Oblivion said.

The man stepped up and said to Oblivion's group, "I'm with the Aincrad Liberation Army, Lieutenant Corvotz."

"I'm Kirito, solo." Kirito said.

"Sure you are." Corvotz said, as Kirito was standing by a bunch of players. "Have you cleared the area up ahead?" He asked.

"Yeah, we also got a map with the directions to the boss room." Kirito said.

"Right, and hand over that map and we'll be on our way." Corvotz ordered.

"Done." Oblivion said, giving the map to Corvotz. "I have no use for it anymore, you can have it."

"Y-you're just gonna give that to him?" Klein asked. "Come on Oblivion, you're being way too nice to him, compared to him anyways."

"Well, like I said, I don't need it." Oblivion said.

"Thanks for cooperating." Corvotz said. He turned and started walking towards his group.

"By the way, if you're planning to hit up the boss room, I wouldn't recommend it." Kirito said.

"That is my decision to make." Corvotz said, still walking.

"Hey come on pal, I went in there, that boss will wipe you out, especially with your guys half dead!" Kirito protested. "Look at them! They're exhausted!"

"Nonsense! My men are tougher than that! They won't quit until I say so!" Corvotz said, he turned towards his group, "Come on! Up on your feet, move!" Corvotz's group got up, groaning in exhaustion, and started walking towards the boss room.

"Welp, their funeral I suppose." Oblivion said. "Especially his."

"Yeah, those guys even gonna be okay?" Klein asked himself.

"I'm sure they know what they're doing. They won't rush the boss without checking it out first, right?" Asuna asked herself.

"We should keep an eye on them." Oblivion said. He then started leading the group to the boss door, as he'd remembered the way to get there from where they were.

 **5 Minutes Later**

The group were just getting done fighting a group of monsters. "That's the last one." Klein said, after he killed one. "Now all that's left is the boss room."

A second later, Oblivion heard a scream, in the direction the boss room was. "Everyone! Boss room now!" Oblivion ordered. He then ran first, ahead of Kirito and Asuna.

When they got to the boss room, they saw the boss, Gleam Eyes, mowing down the army. "Don't just stand there! Use your teleport crystals!" Kirito yelled.

"We can't! They're not working!" One of them said.

"Isn't there something we can do!?" Klein said.

Corvotz ordered a charge on the boss, and his group started going. "Don't do it!" Kirito yelled. Gleam Eyes let out a loud roar, pushing back the group, and swung it's blade down at the group, knocking over 5 players. Gleam Eyes swung again, at Corvotz, and landed a hit on his shoulder. "Hey! Hang on Corvotz." Kirito said.

Corvotz's helmet then broke into many shiny pieces, and soon, so he did too. Asuna gasped, one of the army members yelled, Gleam Eyes, raised its sword up. Asuna then yelled and charged towards the boss, Kirito went with her.

Klein gasped, Oblivion said, "Come on, us too." Oblivion used his Reflex Tester skill to launch himself over towards the boss.

"Oh what the hell." Klein mumbled, and then proceeded to charge Gleam Eyes with the group.

Asuna jumped towards the boss and landed 7 hits with her Rapier. Gleam Eyes turned and slammed Asuna across the room. Gleam Eyes proceeded to finish her off, before Kirito jumped in front of her, and using his Elucidator, redirected the sword's direction, and landed right beside Asuna.

"Get out!" Kirito ordered. Asuna did so and jumped back.

Kirito landed a cut on the beast's back, Oblivion, using Fryz, slashed at Gleam Eyes' leg, freezing his thigh, making him fall over. The beast got back up and with an irritated expression on his face, looked towards Oblivion and Kirito. Gleam Eyes swung at Oblivion first, Oblivion dodged the attack by rolling to the left, Kirito then jumped at the beast, and with intentions to land a cut on it's neck, Gleam Eyes jumped back, and swung at Kirito, he blocked the strike, but Gleam Eyes kept pushing down on him.

"Get out of there!" Everyone in the background was saying. Oblivion jumped towards Gleam Eyes and landed a cut on his wrist, freezing his ability to use his sword for a while, allowing him and Kirito to fall back for a short bit.

"Klein! Asuna! Oblivion! I need about ten seconds! Keep him off me!" Kirito yelled. He jumped back and the group protected him. Kirito was scrolling through his skills tab, looking for the dual wielding skill. When he found it, he selected it, and said, "I'm ready!"

Asuna then batted away Gleam Eyes's sword, allowing Kirito to land a strike, Kirito then ran towards Gleam Eyes, drawing both his Elucidator, and his Dark Repulser, and swung upwards at the beast's jaw, knocking his head back. Oblivion jumped back, as he wanted Kirito to have his moment. Gleam Eyes swung his blade down at Kirito, he used both his swords to block, and bat away the blade. Kirito then activated his Starburst Stream skill, landing multiple hits on both the abdomen, and the chest. The beast kept beating on him, and thrusts his blade at Kirito, however, Kirito stabbed the beast right in the abdominals, and ran it's health down to zero, and Gleam Eyes burst into tiny shards and flew through the whole room.

"Is it over?" Kirito whispered to himself, before falling over, with only a tiny portion of his health left.

 **2 Minutes Later**

Kirito had fallen asleep, his head was resting on Asuna's lap, who was yelling at him to wake up, hoping he was okay. When his eyes opened, he can see tears welling just around her eyes.

"H-how long was I out?" Kirito asked.

"Just a few seconds." Asuna said, wiping her eyes, "you, reckless idiot!" She then wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh don't hug me so tightly, I'll lose the last of my health." Kirito said, jokingly.

Klein walked up, and said "Corvotz and two of his men are the only ones who didn't make it through."

"We haven't lost a player in a boss fight, since floor 67." Kirito said.

"Yeah, it's too bad.." Oblivion said.

"Yeah well that wasn't a boss fight, that was just, suicide. Corvotz was a damned fool. Why, there's absolutely no point in any of this if you die! And, you're not off the hook either, what kind of skill was that!?" Klein said.

"I don't think you wanna know, considering I hardly know myself." Kirito said.

"Oh yeah right, I never seen anything like that before!" Klein said.

"It's a skill I picked up. Dual Wielding." Kirito said.

The others were surprised, "Are there prerequisites?" Klein asked.

"If I knew that I'd have shared it by now." Kirito said.

"Yeah true, but I too, have the skill." Oblivion said. "I didn't wanna steal your thunder Kirito, but by now everyone's seen me with two swords. However, you have no clue how you got it, like you just said."

"Yeah, but how'd you get it?" Kirito asked.

"Well I tried using two swords, it took me hours but I got it. I dunno if you need any prerequisites, like Klein asked, but if Klein wanted, he could try and get it." Oblivion said.

"I mean, it isn't even on the infobroker skill list. Maybe it's exclusive to you guys only." Klein said.

"Yeah, about that, I was just scrolling through my skill list, and, well to put it bluntly, it was just, there. I figured, if anyone else found out that I had a skill like this.." Kirito stopped.

"They'd get pissy because you got something they don't." Klein said. "Some people are like that, not me, but yeah, people would definitely be jealous you got that, so simply too."

"We're gonna activate the warp gate, coming with?" Oblivion asked.

"Nah, I'll catch up later." Kirito said. "I need to rest a bit."

"Yeah, well have a safe trip back." Klein said. Oblivion, Klein, and the others then warped away, leaving Kirito and Asuna, alone in the room.


	23. Arc 1 Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **FK HQ - Oblivion's Room**

"Whatcha reading?" Lisbeth asked, peering over Oblivion's shoulder.

"A message, from Heathcliff, who leads KOTBO. Apparently he wants to see me, Asuna and Kirito." Oblivion said.

"Is this about the stunt Kirito pulled off? On floor 74?" Lisbeth asked.

"Well now that you mention it, yeah probably, I was there. I didn't have both my swords out though, but everyone in the game knows that I am a dual wielder, Kirito ain't the first. But now, people are gonna be jealous, of me and him, people were already jealous of me, and now Kirito has the skill too. People will think I told him how to get it or something and they'll kill me for the info, and well, I told people, but nobody got it to work." Oblivion explained.

"I'll make you some breakfast, sound good?" Lisbeth asked.

Oblivion took a deep breath, "Sounds great." He replied with a smile.

 **KOTBO HQ**

"Outside of boss fights, I don't believe we've actually met, Kirito, and Oblivion." Heathcliff said.

"Well there was that conference on floor 67. We talked a little bit there, commander Heathcliff." Kirito said.

"Yes that was a difficult battle, wasn't it." Heathcliff said.

"So, what's, you bringing us here for exactly? Is it about floor 74?" Oblivion asked.

"Not exactly, see we may be the top guild, but we can barely make it through with the amount of troops we have, but Kirito, he's here, trying to poach one of our best players. I don't know what to say." Heathcliff said, upset and angrily.

"Well if she's that important, maybe you should do a better job at picking her bodyguard." Kirito said.

"You have my apologies, for any inconveniences you've had with Kuradeel. But you must understand that I cannot let our second in command leave the guild, just like that." Heathcliff said. "If you want her, you must use your dual blades to defeat me in combat, if you can, you'll be free to take Asuna with you, however, if you lose, you will join the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"Okay then, you wanna settle this with swords, that's fine by me, we'll have ourselves a duel then." Kirito said.

"Then it's decided, we duel tomorrow. You two can have your spare time until then, however Oblivion, I'd wish to speak with you in private." Heathcliff said. Kirito and Asuna nodded, they left. Oblivion stayed. "Anyways, yes, I did hear you were involved with that boss battle and it reminded me to ask you, you do have the dual wielding skill, don't you?"

Oblivion was startled by the question, he had no idea whether he should answer yes or no, but people had seen him use it, it was definitely not secret that he had dual wielding. He thought " _Maybe if I told him how I got it, he might believe me, however, he did make the game, but then again, I didn't use any magic to get the skill._ " He decided, and said, "Yes I do have it."

"Does Kirito know how he got the Dual Wielding skill?" Heathcliff asked

"Not that I know, but he says he has no idea how he got it." Oblivion said.

"Same case for you?" Heathcliff asked.

"Well, not exactly, but sort of. See I tried Dual Wielding, it didn't work at first but then later on I got it. Other people tried doing the same thing I did, but it didn't work for them, besides from one guy in a red guild, I saw them a day after investigating Titan's Hand. We arrested the man, as he was a red player, but he was the only one I knew besides myself and Kirito who managed to get the skill." Oblivion explained.

"Hmmm, interesting. It's quite sad that people will use a skill such as that to kill other players. But you must know that we're not the only top guild, your guild, as I've recently noticed, is actually the second top guild, and my guild requires your guild's help, in order to progress further in the game. So, I wanted to make this alliance, official." Heathcliff offered, he opened his menu and swiped a guild alliance invite to Oblivion, "You may decide now."

Oblivion thought for a moment, he knew if he was official allies with KOTBO, their guilds could easily get to the dungeon, on floor 74, the boss door to be specific. He didn't see any downsides to the deal, so he accepted the invite.

"I see you've made your decision. Thank you for accepting my offer, Oblivion." Heathcliff said.

 **October 20th 2024 - Kirito and Heathcliff's Duel**

Oblivion's party went out to watch Kirito and Heathcliff's duel. When they had found a place to sit, Lisbeth said "Wow, they really made this a big deal, didn't they?"

"Well I mean, if top players like Kirito and Heathcliff are gonna duel like this, I'd expect this much attention from it." Oblivion said.

Oblivion settled down and watched the fight. He noticed nothing special happened, it was the same fight he had in the original universe, so Oblivion was relieved that nothing bad happened with the timeline yet. Kirito lost. Lisbeth said "Well, that ended quickly, I was actually expecting a longer fight."

"Yeah same, that was like, what, a minute? I want a refund!" Rhen yelled, upsettingly.

"Okay guys, just calm down, I'll pay you guys back some other time, okay?" Oblivion said.

"Well, you don't have too, I mean, it's not like the tickets costed more than 20 Col." Lisbeth said.

"Lets just get out of here before things get chaotic." Oblivion said.

 **October 23rd 2024**

"So you're telling me that some lunatic is going to kill Kirito!?" Lisbeth asked, panicking.

"Well, no I did not say that, did I say that? I swear I did not say that. I meant to say that some lunatic is going to make an attempt at killing Kirito. I need to head out and make sure that he isn't killed." Oblivion said.

"Okay, are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yes I'm sure, if anything bad happened, well, I don't even know what the hell I'd do. I'd flip my shit, or something." Oblivion said.

"Okay, well, please be careful." Lisbeth said.

Oblivion winked and said "Of course."

 **30 Minutes Later**

Oblivion had arrived at the spot on Floor 55, where Kuradeel would kill Godfrey and attack Kirito. He looked down, Kirito had just drank the bottle that Kuradeel had supposedly poisoned. A second later, Kirito threw the bottle away from him, but it was too late, he was paralyzed.

Kuradeel, the man behind the crime he was about to commit, got up, laughing, Godfrey was trying to pull out a couple of antidote crystals, when he had them in his grasp, Kuradeel jumped and kicked them out of his hand.

"Poor sad old Godfrey, I always knew you were a colossal idiot, but this proves you're even dumber than I thought." Kuradeel said. He then drew his sword, Kuradeel then swung downwards onto Godfrey's back, Kuradeel's cursor now turning yellow, along with Godfrey's health. "Here's my plan, our party was walking along when.." Kuradeel swung downwards again, "We were attacked by a gang of criminal players who appeared out of nowhere." Kuradeel swung again, "You both fought hard but you were killed in battle." Kuradeel swung again, "It was just me against all of them, and somehow, I courageously and singlehandedly fought them all off!" Kuradeel swung again and started laughing, the expression on his face, the exact opposite of any face any normal person would make if they were to kill someone. Kuradeel kept stabbing and cutting into the man, when Godfrey's health entered the red, Kuradeel changed his grip and stabbed Godfrey once more, he pushed the blade further into his back, until Godfrey exploded into shards.

Kuradeel was breathing heavily, he then turned around, smiling at Kirito. "You know, I just killed an innocent bystander because of you, oh how will I ever live with myself." Kuradeel said, sarcastically.

"From over here you looked like you were having a blast doing it, why the hell would a guy like you join the Knights of the Blood Oath? You'd be more at home with one of the criminal guilds." Kirito said.

"What an interesting observation, you have sharp eyes." Kuradeel said, removing his forearm plating, revealing a Laughing Coffin tattoo.

"You're with Laughing Coffin, the murder guild." Kirito said.

"That's where I got the skills to paralyze bastards like you, I should stop talking or the poison will wear off, oh and we wouldn't want that would we now?" Kuradeel said, raising his sword, and stabbing Kirito right through his forearm. He raised the sword again, and stabbed Kirito in his right thigh, "How's it feel? Come on, I wanna know how it feels knowing you're about to die like a dog. What? Is your tongue paralyzed too?" Kuradeel said. Kirito's health entered the yellow, "Come on now! It's your last chance to say something! " Kuradeel laughed, "You really are going to die!" Kuradeel said, raising his sword, and stabbing Kirito right in the gut, Kirito's health entered the red. Kirito closed his eyes, but then, a second later, opened them, and held the blade impaling him. Kuradeel gasped, and said, "Why do you keep struggling? Are you afraid of dying after all?" Kuradeel asked.

"No, I'm, just not ready yet." Kirito said.

Kuradeel placed his right palm on his face, and laughed, he then said "Is that so?" The then took his hand off his face and said "That's the way I like it!" Kuradeel kept the sword in place trying to move it around as it cut through Kirito, Kirito struggled to keep the sword in place. Kirito let go, Kuradeel repeated the words "Die!" as he did. Kirito's health was nearing zero.

Then, Oblivion heard the footsteps, coming from Asuna, who rushed to Kirito's rescue, and smashed Kuradeel towards the rocky terrain behind him. Asuna equipped a healing crystal and healed Kirito. "I made it, I made it in time." Asuna said. "Thank god, I made it, I was tracking your position on the map the whole time, and then I saw Godfrey disappear, I got worried something happened, and you're alive. I'm not dreaming am I?" Asuna asked.

"No, no you're not." Kirito said.

Kuradeel got up, Asuna turned around, got up, and said, "Hang on, I'll finish this." She then walked towards Kuradeel, drawing her rapier.

"A-a-Asuna, I can explain! We were just training when all of a sudden, there was this-" Kuradeel was interrupted, with a swift blow across Kuradeel face, leaving a cut on his cheek. "D-damn you!" He said, before Asuna unleashed a flurry of attacks, Kuradeel dropped his sword, and raised his arms up, and said, "I give up! I surrender! Please don't kill me! I'll leave the guild you'll never see me again I promise! Please! I don't wanna die!"

Asuna was about to finish Kuradeel off, but she hesitated, and backed up. Kuradeel let out a soft laugh, grabbed his sword, and disarmed Asuna. He continued to laugh, he then said "The oldest trick in the book, and you fell for it bitch!" Kirito came out from behind and blocked the attack with his arm, losing his hand, Kirito's other hand then lit up, Kirito let out a battle cry, and threw a punch straight into Kuradeel's gut. Kuradeel's last words, he said "God damn you, you murdered me." Kuradeel then exploded into shards.

Oblivion got up, assumed his job was done. Everything happened according to his predictions, he then pulled out his teleport crystal and teleported back home.


	24. Arc 1 Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online**

 **A/N: This will be the last chapter of Multiverse Arc 1, I will work on Arc 2, and then the second Multiverse story afterwards. I really hope you enjoyed reading this first Arc and the Prologue, and I hope you stick around for the next Arc, thanks, and enjoy.**

 **November 7th 2024 - Floor 74**

Oblivion was requested by Heathcliff to do a favour for him, which was to scout out the upcoming boss room, with a party of 20 other people. Oblivion wasn't expecting to be part of the party that would be scouting the boss room, but he was fine with it, if he needed to, he would kill the boss using his top-secret sword he rarely uses, Dainsleif.

Oblivion was the leader of the party, he and his party were walking towards the boss room, having just found it. Oblivion turned towards his party and said "Well, we found what we came here for, we're just gonna scout the boss room, and we'll run out afterwards. Understand?"

"Understood." Everyone in the party said simultaneously.

Oblivion then turned around again and opened the door, everyone walked in, and the door shut behind them. "Oh shit." Oblivion said, he looked up and saw the boss, The Skull Reaper. "Everyone! Back up!" Oblivion ordered, the boss fell down, and let out a loud screech. "Everyone! Use your teleport crystals!"

"They ain't working!" One of them said.

"Are you kidding me!?" Oblivion yelled. The Skull Reaper then swung one of its spikes towards the party, Oblivion blocked the strike, but then the Skull Reaper swung again, knocking Oblivion away, and killing 5 of his party members. A few minutes passed, and Oblivion was the only one left, Oblivion had to decide, kill the boss or message Kirito and single handedly fight the boss off normally until he got there. Oblivion found a way to stun the boss and sent a message to Kirito. Kirito said he'd be there ASAP with the assault team.

 **10 Minutes Later**

Kirito's group, Oblivion's party from home, and the Assault Team entered the boss room, to see Oblivion was still alive and single handedly fighting off the boss on his own.

"Jesus Christ, Oblivion nuts or something!?" Klein said.

"I don't know but we gotta kill this thing ASAP." Agil said.

Klein, Agil, Asuna, Kirito, Rhen, Whit, Strea, Philia, Lisbeth, Heathcliff, all charged the boss. Soon enough, after Kirito and Asuna had delivered the final blow, the Skull Reaper had exploded into shards.

Everyone in the room fell down, exhausted. A minute later, Klein asked, "How many did we lose?"

Oblivion opened his menu and checked, he then said, "33 of us died, including the scout party."

"Oh my god." Agil said.

"And we still got 25 floors to go." Klein said.

"25 more floors, how the hell are we even gonna make it that far?" Agil said.

Oblivion looked towards Kirito, who was starting down Heathcliff, he was suspicious, he knew who Heathcliff really was, after he looked back at his duel with him, Kirito grabbed the handle of his Elucidator, but then, Oblivion drew his sword and with a lightning fast movement, he attempted to strike at Heathcliff, and an Immortal Object note popped up, before Kirito could even get up to try himself.

"An immortal object?" Asuna said, "Commander Heathcliff, what's going on?"

"Heathcliff, while just like all of us, players, also a man you'd never expect playing this game. The reason why Heathcliff's health never hits the yellow is because he's using the system to protect him. The man before you is Akihiko Kayaba, the man behind Sword Art Online." Oblivion said.

Everyone stood in their places, silent, until Heathcliff said, "Just for my curiosity's sake, would you mind telling me how you figured it out?"

"I saw your duel with Kirito, your move was way too fast. I was pretty suspicious about this whole thing even before that duel." Oblivion said.

"Yes, that was a big mistake on my part, using the system's assist mode to defeat Kirito in a duel, I was sure that would stand out to some people, especially to Kirito, though, I was expecting him to find that out first, I'm surprised you figured it out before him. Would you mind telling me your reasons for suspicion other than the duel?" Heathcliff asked.

"Just me being suspicious, I was first surprised to hear that your health never entered the yellow ever. I was also suspicious when I heard you had that unique skill, Divine Blade." Oblivion said.

"Yes but I also still wonder, did you really get the dual wielding skill the way you said you did?" Heathcliff asked.

"Actually not exactly, but you wouldn't believe me if I tried to tell you." Oblivion said.

"Is that so? How suspicious…" Heathcliff replied. "Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba, and now that my identity has been revealed, it should be no surprise that I am the Final Boss on the top floor."

Kirito got up and stood by Oblivion, and said "So the strongest player in the game, ends up being the final boss, kinda cliche, isn't it."

"Well actually I kind of like that angle, one thing's for sure, I'd knew it'd be either one of you standing before me in the very end, maybe even both of you." Heathcliff said. "You know, Dual Wielding is a rare skill, a skill only given to the player with the fastest reaction time, he is the hero of this story, the one who rises up to challenge the Demon King, but however, it seems we have two Heroes, the power you two displayed exceeded my expectations, I guess these unexpected twists and turns is what makes MMORPG's so thrilling to play."

"Our royalty, our hope, how dare you, how dare you! How dare you!" One of the players said, attempting to attack Heathcliff, who opened his menu and paralyzed the man, and all the others in the room, besides from Kirito and Oblivion.

"What's the plan now huh? You gonna kill everyone here and cover it up or something?" Kirito asked.

"Oh god no, that wouldn't be sporting of me, now would it? No I have a much better idea, I am going to the top floor and wait for all of you there, I'll be inside the Ruby Palace. It's a shame that I have to leave you all so soon, I spent so much time developing the Knights of the Blood Oath. Oh well." Heathcliff said, laughing, "You're all strong, so I'm sure you'll reach me, eventually. But, before I go, Oblivion, Kirito, I feel like you two deserve a reward for discovering my identity, so, I'll give either of you a chance."

"A chance for what." Kirito asked.

"Isn't it obvious, to fight me, one on one, right here, right now, and my immortality will be deactivated. One of you two stand up and duel me, defeat me, and all the players will be able to log out of this world, no strings attached, what do you say?" Heathcliff offered.

Once again, the reason why Oblivion went into the SAO universe in the first place, is to learn to become a swordsman and reunite with his friend, Artemis, or Caleb, his friend he'd known for so long. It was Oblivion's chance to test his strength, he secretly used hardly any sword skills the entire time playing, and only used them for emergency, he used his own knowledge and skills to get where he is now, so he thought he might have a chance against Heathcliff, the one who designed all of the sword skills in the game, Oblivion was going to use absolutely none, and use his pure knowledge he's gained from over 2 years of playing SAO.

He noticed Kirito was having thoughts too, and Oblivion knew what those thoughts were, but Oblivion got up first and said, "Me first."

Heathcliff chuckled, "Very well."

"Before we start, could you do something for me." Oblivion asked.

"Depends, but I'll gladly hear what you have to ask." Heathcliff said.

"I don't plan on dying, but if I do, and Kirito does too, I want you to make it so that Kirito's girlfriend cant kill herself, same for my girlfriend, plus, my party members, and anyone on my friends list." Oblivion requested.

"That's an interesting request, I'll take it." Heathcliff said, opening his menus.

"Oblivion! Why!? This isn't fair!" Asuna said.

"I have to, if it means saving all of you guys, I'm not gonna miss my chance." Oblivion said. He drew both his swords, Fryz and Slicer, and walked towards Heathcliff.

"Oblivion! What're you thinking!?" Rhen yelled.

"Oblivion! Don't do this!" Klein yelled.

"Rhen, I haven't really said this yet, but, thanks, for being such a good second in command, and for being such a good friend." Oblivion said. "Klein, I know we haven't talked much, but, thanks for looking out for Kirito." Oblivion turned, looked towards his girlfriend, Lisbeth, who was silent the whole time and said, "Lisbeth. Thank you, for everything."

"Oblivion! Wait! Don't do this please!" She begged.

"I'm sorry, but if it means saving you, I'm taking the chance." Oblivion said. He turned back to Heathcliff. "So, we doing this or what?"

"Absolutely." Heathcliff said, drawing his sword.

 _*If this really means my death, well, I'm fine with that. I've had a long life, 22 years, it feels like yesterday Caleb was killed in oncoming traffic, and I left with Alex and Matt to get the Amulet. I sure miss Matt, he's dead now, but his death won't be in vain, once I kill Heathcliff, everything that has happened, from getting the Amulet, to beating this game, won't be for nothing.*_ Were Oblivion's final thoughts, before his final battle.

Oblivion then ran towards Heathcliff, he swung Fryz from his left, hitting Heathcliff's shield, and swung Slicer from his right hitting his shield, he did this as fast as he could, repeating this pattern, bashing his shield back, until he pushed him back to the edge of the room. Heathcliff shield bashed Oblivion to the other side, Heathcliff ran towards Oblivion and swung his blade from his right towards Oblivion, Oblivion batted away the strike and fell back. Oblivion then charged at Heathcliff again, and swung Fryz from his right, pushing Heathcliff's shield slightly to the right, Oblivion was about to swing Slicer at Heathcliff, but Heathcliff jumped to the left and shield bashed Oblivion again, launching him upwards. Oblivion used this opportunity to use something he never before used. He threw his weapons away, and a sheath appeared on his back, Oblivion drew the Sword forged by the Dwarves, a single cut could kill anyone. As he drew the sword, huge amounts of magical energy burst from the blade, so powerful, it ripped the cloak straight off Oblivion's torso, revealing the amulet he'd been wearing for so long.

Oblivion landed, and Heathcliff said, "My, I never seen an amulet like that before, I never added anything like it. I wonder, what does it do?"

"You should be asking about my sword instead, and not the amulet." Oblivion said.

"Oh yes! Where on earth, or should I say, where in Aincrad's name did you get a weapon like that?" Heathcliff asked.

"Nowhere special." Oblivion said, smirking. Not only can Dainsleif kill an opponent in one hit, but it also gives Oblivion demonic enhancements, the only visible proof was the fact that his left eye turned blood red, his other remained blue. Oblivion's strength was increased by 2 times, so was his speed. Oblivion charged Heathcliff again and unleashed a flurry combo of 50 hits, but Heathcliff managed to block them all.

"My oh my, you have such incredible speed Oblivion, but I swear you didn't have such speed before you drew that mysterious sword." Heathcliff boasted.

"You wanna see speed huh? I'll show you speed." Oblivion said, he then charged Heathcliff again, unleashing another flurry of attacks, same amount of hits, but delivered 0.5 times faster, however, Heathcliff still managed to block every single hit with nothing but his fast reaction time and his shield. Oblivion then fell back again, he had to try something else. He had his Reflex Tester skill, or he could use another one he recently picked up, called Demon's Bane, which increases his Strength and Speed by 2, combine that with Dainsleif's demonic enhancements, that would increase both his Strength and Speed by 4 times. The skill lasted for 10 seconds, and has a cooldown for 30. Oblivion used it and charged Heathcliff once again, but before Oblivion could land a single hit, Heathcliff shield bashed him to the ground and went for a stab, Oblivion rolled out of the way, got up, and went for a kick, Heathcliff blocked it with his shield, Oblivion then fell back.

"Is that all you got!?" Oblivion yelled.

"Not exactly." Heathcliff said, he got into a stance and his sword started glowing.

Oblivion then used his reflex tester skill and launched himself over at Heathcliff with his sword pointing straight at him. Heathcliff reacted just in time, and when Oblivion was in range, Heathcliff had sent his blade through Oblivion's gut, Dainsleif flew out of Oblivion's grasp. Heathcliff had believed that it was over, Oblivion's health lowered into the yellow quickly, without his cloak, he had absolutely no protection over the damage he was taking. Oblivion's health lowered into the red. When Heathcliff thought it was all done and over, he said, "Game Over." At that moment, Oblivion had let out a final battle cry before he used the last of the demonic power he possessed to use a demonic skill called Retrieve to get Dainsleif back in his grasp and send the blade through Heathcliff's chest. Heathcliff's health quickly lowered into the red, and then reached zero. Heathcliff then shattered into shards. Five seconds later, so did Oblivion.

Oblivion saw nothing, a second later, he saw the message, "You Are Dead." Oblivion was well enough prepared for this moment. Soon enough, he was gone.

 _On November 7th, at 2:55pm, the game has been cleared, repeat, the game has been cleared._ Is what everyone heard before all the players of SAO were logged out.

"A stunning view, isn't it?" Kayaba said.

"Akihiko Kayaba." Kirito said.

"At Argus Headquarters, the SAO mainframe is in a room 5 floors below street level. And right now it's deleting all the data from its drives. In about 10 minutes, everything in this world will disappear forever." Kayaba said.

"And all the players? What happens to them?" Asuna asked.

"You don't have to worry about them, the six thousand one hundred forty seven players who survived the game up to now, were logged out a few seconds ago." Kayaba said.

"And what about the four thousand people who died. What about them?" Kirito asked.

"They'll never return, in any world, real or virtual, once you're dead, you're gone." Kayaba said.

"Why? What's the point? Why'd you do this?" Kirito asked.

"That's a good question… It's been so long I've forgotten the reason. Isn't that strange? Even before I developed the system for the FullDive Environment, I dreamed of this. A castle in a world that wasn't governed by earthly laws or restrictions. I poured my life into making that world a reality. I created this world, and I got to see something that surpassed anything I could've imagined for it. My steel castle, floating in the sky, I don't remember how old I was when I became obsessed with it. I wanted to leave the Earth, to fly to that castle, I wanted that more than anything else, for as long as I can remember. You know what Kirito? I wanna believe it's still out there, that somewhere in some other world, my castle is still standing taller than ever." Kayaba said.

"Yeah, maybe it still is." Kirito said.

"Before I forget, if Oblivion manages to live, tell him I said congratulations on beating the game. Well then, I should probably get going now." Kayaba said. He then walked off and poofed into dust.

"Is he really alive?" Kirito said.

 **January 20th 2025**

Owen was lying on a hospital bed, with a Nervegear on a side table, Caleb had arrived in the universe through a portal and used telekinesis to tell his nurse that everything was fine and that he wasn't there to cause harm. "He's in a coma, the Nervegear should have killed him, but, that thing he's wearing, I thought it was going to explode, but, but…"

"The amulet saved him." Caleb said.

"But that's impossible." The nurse said.

"Is there any symptoms to be aware of?" Caleb asked.

"No, other than an extreme case of memory loss." The nurse said.

Just then, the door behind them opened, a girl walked inside, it was Lisbeth, or preferably Rika, she had a vase of flowers in her hand, she asked the nurse, "Who is this?"

"I have no idea, he showed up after coming in through some strange… Portal." The nurse said.

"So, you know who he is, right?" Rika asked.

"He was a friend of mine, in my universe, out of all the versions of him I know, I know this one the most." Caleb said. "Now I'm not even sure he'll remember me." Suddenly, something struck Caleb, maybe the hospital had a Medicuboid, or maybe another hospital did, besides the one Yuuki was using, as she would have been in the Medicuboid at the time, or later on. "Do you have a device called a Medicuboid? Or do you know of any hospitals that have one?" Caleb asked.

"We got one not too long ago, another hospital is testing it and it seems to work well." The nurse said.

"Um, sir, can I ask what a Medicuboid is? I'm kinda worried for what it exactly is and if it'll kill him." Rika asked.

"It's a full dive rig, used in hospitals only, if we put him on it, maybe it'll help him recover his memory." Caleb said.

The nurse thought for a moment, she came to a conclusion later and said, "Might as well try, he's the only one who survived a Nervegear blast actually, it's quite impressive that he's still alive."

20 Minutes later, they hand brang Owen into the room with the Medicuboid, and they had placed him on the bed. "Have you heard of the game ALO?" Caleb asked the nurse.

"Yes I have, we have a copy downloaded on the Medicuboid. How come?" The Nurse asked.

"A friend of his is logging in, if he finds him in there, he'll be sure to help regain his memory." Caleb said.

"Who would this person be?" The Nurse asked.

"Kirito."

 **A/N: Once again, thanks for reading, but it isn't over yet, I'll be working on Arc 2 shortly after the chapter is uploaded. Arc 2 will be uploaded on this story, and will be labeled, so follow the story if you're interested. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day. Goodbye.**


	25. Arc 2 Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. Please support the official release.**

 **A/N: Before I start, I should say, I highly encourage feedback/reviews. Second, I'm not including Recon in the story, mainly because I disliked the character and found him annoying. Anyways, enjoy the story.**

 **January 20th 2022**

 **Owen's Hospital**

"Can you hear me Owen?" The Nurse asked Owen, who was on the Medicuboid.

"Yeah I can, where the hell am I? Who are you?" Owen asked.

"I am your nurse, you're in a coma at the moment." The Nurse said.

"Then why the hell can I hear you talking, I don't remember the last time a Nurse managed telepathically communicate with someone in a coma." Owen said.

"What do you see?" The Nurse asked.

"Nothing. Nothing except myself, other than that it's pitch black in here." Owen said.

"You're on a FullDive machine, called the Medicuboid, we're going to attempt to get you out of that coma, and regain some of your memories." The Nurse said. "Do you remember anything?"

"Well, I don't remember much actually, no." Owen said. "All I remember is my head feeling like it's about to explode, then I saw some blue glowy shit or something, then my memory is just blank."

"Do you remember anything before that?" The Nurse asked.

"Nope." Owen said.

*His memory loss case is worse than I thought, the only thing he remembers is the NerveGear blast.* The Nurse thought to herself. "Okay I'm going to show you an image, and I want you to tell me who it is."

"Okay, go right ahead." Owen said. The Nurse then pulled up an image in front of Owen. "Um, miss, I don't see how pulling up a picture of Elmo with blood gushing out his mouth is gonna work."

"What? Oh, why that little punk." The Nurse said.

"Something about this is familiar though." Owen said.

"What!? Tell me!" The Nurse demanded.

"I dunno, I remember I had a friend who made a joke about an Elmo mask, but I don't remember who exactly.." Owen said.

"Does the name Caleb bring up any thoughts?" The Nurse asked.

"Hmmm, that name is awfully familiar, almost like I've known someone with that name for over 3 years now. Why do you ask?" Owen asked.

"Do you remember Caleb Kumar?" The Nurse asked. "He said he was one of your best friends."

"I think I do, I'm trying to remember but, I just can't. Come on miss, is there anything else that will work?" Owen asked.

"Well, there is something." The Nurse said, she pressed a button on the Medicuboid.

"What's this? Alfheim Online."

 **2 Hours Later**

 **Agil's Bar**

"Yo, you're early man." Agil said.

"What'd you do, scare all your customers away?" Kirito asked, jokingly.

"Very funny. Man at night it's off the hook in here." Agil said.

"Well, I'm here, what's the deal with that picture you sent?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, that's gonna take a little explaining. But first, check this out." Agil said, sliding a copy of Alfheim Online on the counter, over to Kirito.

"A game?" Kirito asked.

"It's an MMO for the Amusphere. It's what replaced NerveGear on the market." Agil said.

"Oh, so it's a VRMMO. Just like Sword Art. Alfh-eem, Online?" Kirito said.

"Um, actually it's pronounced Alf-heim. Yeah, it means 'Land of the Fairies.'" Agil said.

"Fairies huh. Land of the Fairies, sounds like a cute game." Kirito said.

"Yeah, that's not what I hear brother, for one, PK'ing is allowed, and it's got this hardcore skill system." Agil said.

"What do you mean hardcore?" Kirito asked.

"I mean the game's not level based, it's skill based, you gotta use your skills over and over to improve, and combat depends on your real life physical abilities." Agil explained.

"That is hardcore." Kirito said.

"There's no sword skills, other than that, it's like SAO with magic, and from what I hear, people are going nuts for it. Because in the game, you feel like you're flying." Agil said.

"Say what?" Kirito asked.

"You know how fairies have wings? Well the game's got this flying engine thing, and once you figure it out, you can fly." Agil explained.

"Woah, how's a player control it?" Kirito asked.

"No idea man, I do hear that it's a pain to get used to though." Agil said.

"Yeah I bet, how are you supposed to control something you don't have? Maybe you have to use the muscles in your back." Kirito guessed.

"Ahem." Agil said.

"Wha? Oh, right, getting back to Asuna, what does she have to do with this game?" Kirito asked.

Agil took out the photo and placed it onto the counter and said, "Look familiar?"

"It looks like Asuna." Kirito said.

"I kinda figured you'd say that." Agil said.

"Would you cut the crap? Where the hell is this?" Kirito asked.

"Alfheim Online. That was taken in the game. Right in the middle, you got the World Tree, at the top of that, there's this legendary castle, players are divided up into nine races, each one of those races are trying to be the first to reach the castle." Agil explained.

"Why don't they just fly up to it?" Kirito asked.

"It's already been tried, but the game's got a limit to how long you can stay airborne. Check this out, five players stacked up, bigger players on the bottom. They tried launching themselves like a rocket. But they didn't even make it past the lowest branch, they did manage to snap a couple shots though, when they checked out the pics, they saw something weird." Agil said.

"A birdcage." Kirito said.

"You could call it that, but after zooming in on it as far as they could, they saw her." Agil said.

"Okay, but if it's really Asuna, what's she doing there?" Kirito asked. Kirito then checked the back of the cover, and read, "RCT Progress? Agil, can I borrow this for a couple days?"

"Sure, it's cool." Agil said. "You thinking about going?"

"Yeah, I gotta check this out. A game where it's okay to die shouldn't be that difficult." Kirito then downed the coffee on the counter. "Crap I still gotta get the hardware for it."

"It's compatible with what you got, the Amusphere is just a NerveGear rig, but with better security." Agil said.

"That's a relief." Kirito said.

"The battle's not over until it's over, you feel me?" Agil said. "Get her out and come back safe."

"Sure. And when I do, lets all meet up here." Kirito said.

 **Alfheim Online**

Owen was just logged into ALO from his Medicuboid, he had no memory of playing SAO or any video game at all, the game greeted him with a message, saying "Welcome to Alfheim Online." The game then told Owen to pick a name. Owen then decided on the name Void. The game then told him to pick a race, he picked Sylph as his race. He then entered the game.

He spawned in Sylph territory, Sylvain. Void had no idea what he was doing and why he was required to log into this game. He decided to try and ask one of the players for help. He looked around, he saw one player that peaked his interest. She had blonde hair and a white and green dress. He walked over and said, "Hey, you got a minute?"

"Um, sure, what do you need?" The girl asked.

"I just logged in and I haven't a clue what to do, you mind showing me the ropes?" Void asked.

"I got some time on my hands I guess, okay, I'll help you. I actually needed a party member to get somewhere." The girl said. "My name's Leafa by the way, what's yours?"

"Void, nice to meet you Leafa. So, where should we start?" Void asked.

"Well, the most important thing you should learn first is flying, it's a pain to get used to, which is why you should practice that first." Leafa explained.

"Flying huh? Well, just tell me what to do and I'll try the best I can." Void said.

"Alright, turn around." Leafa said.

Void nodded, he turned around, and his wings were activated.

Leafa then put her hand on his back and said, "Now try and use these muscles here to control your wings."

"Okay." Void said, he attempted to use his wings the way Leafa instructed him to, it took him a couple seconds, but eventually he was off the ground. He wasn't flying very well at first but after a few minutes he was flying perfectly fine. "So, what next?" Void called out to Leafa.

Leafa flew to where he was and said, "I'd suggest we go out and teach you some combat."

"Alright." Void said.

 **10 Minutes Later**

Leafa and Void were being chased down by 12 Salamanders. Leafa and Void both drew their weapons. "I guess this is a good time to test your combat and flight at the same time." Leafa said.

Void nodded, and flew towards the Salamanders. He dodged an attack moving left, and swung his sword horizontally from the left, and bashed one of the Salamander's arm with his blade. Void, now behind the Salamander, sent his sword forward through the man's back. He flew towards another Salamander, the Salamander sent his spear straight towards Void, Void disarmed the Salamander and spun 180 degrees, and cut the man's chest, his health, reaching zero, the man died.

A while later, a fireball was sent in Leafa's direction, the fireball hit Leafa, and she flew downwards to the ground, Void turned around and flew to her direction. Void landed behind one of the trees, but they were cornered by three Salamanders. One said, "Sorry about this, but we're on a mission though. Give up your money and items, and we'll let you two go."

"What are you acting like a gentleman for Kagemune?" One of them asked.

"Yeah we haven't fought a chick in like, forever." Another one said.

"I beg to differ." Void said, coming out from behind a tree.

"Oh, her little friend decided to come out. Whatever, he looks like a noob anyways." Kagemune said.

"Okay fine, but I'm taking one of you with me, whoever's not afraid of dying, then come on and get some." Leafa challenged.

"You're a stubborn girl, suit yourself." Kagemune said, each of the Salamanders got ready. Just then, a boy, dressed in black fell from the sky, landing on his head.

"Damn, gotta work on those landings." The boy said.

"What are you doing!? Go! Get out of here!" Leafa said.

"Would someone tell me why three big guys are fighting one single girl? That's pretty uncool if you ask me." He said.

"What did you say!?" One of the Salamanders said.

"Better get your ass out of here noob, fast." The other Salamander said. "You asked for it, get ready to die!"

The Salamander flew towards the boy, sending his spear towards him. The boy however, somehow managed to grab hold of the spear, and threw the Salamander away. "Excuse me, hate to interrupt, but you two mind if I take care of this?" The boy asked.

"I got a feeling there's more to him than we think, despite what he just pulled off." Void said.

"I guess if you really want to." Leafa answered to the boy. "It's not like they were gonna let you walk off alive anyways."

"Then sit back and lemme at 'em." He said. The boy drew his sword, he then made an impossibly fast dash forwards.

"Crap, where'd he go?" One of the Salamander's asked. The other one exploded. The boy jumped towards the second Salamander, and jumped upwards swinging his sword in an uppercut like fashion, cutting the Salamander in two, killing him.

"How about you? Feel like fighting?" The boy asked.

"No thanks pal, my magic skill is gonna reach nine hundred soon so I'd rather not die just yet." Kagemune said.

"At least you're honest about it." The boy said. "How about you miss?"

"Guess I'll pass too." Leafa said, she then looked towards Kagemune. "But next time you're going down."

"Oh? Well then next time I'll bring along more friends." Kagemune said.

The flames of the Salamander's the boy had defeated disappeared. "Hey, what's your name?" Void asked.

"Kirito, how come?" Kirito asked.

"Kirito… That name, it sounds familiar. I dunno, I just recognize you from somewhere that's all." Void said.

"Well your voice does seem familiar to me. Anyways Kirito, I actually wanted to ask you a favour, because, well, you seem like someone I can trust." Void said.

"Okay, go on." Kirito said.

"I'm using a FullDive machine called the Medicuboid, I am suffering from a bad case of memory loss and I was hoping you'd be able to somewhat help me." Void said.

"Oh, well I'm sorry about your case, that seems bad. I dunno, before I say, what's your name?" Kirito asked.

"Void." He said.

"Well Void, I think I can try and help you the best I can." Kirito said.

"Thanks." Void said.

"Hey Kirito, is there anyway I can thank you?" Leafa asked.

"I dunno, what do you think will work?" Kirito asked.

"I guess maybe a drink?" Leafa offered, "Void, you're welcome to come as well, hearing about your case, and because you helped me back there fighting those Salamanders, it would be rude of me to not offer you anything at all."

"Well a drink sounds nice, so I guess I'll come. And besides, Kirito might be able to help me out while we're there, and maybe even you too Leafa." Void said.

"Alright, we just gotta get to a neutral town." Leafa said.

"Actually Sylvain is much closer, we should just head there." Void said. "We just gotta make sure Kirito is fine though."

"Well I guess." Leafa said.

 **Sylvain**

The group made it to Sylvain, Leafa had brought Kirito and Void into a restaurant and bought them drinks. When the waiter came and gave them their drinks, Void asked, "Kirito, you can ask me any question, any question you want."

"Okay, well for starters, what do you remember?" Kirito asked.

"I dunno, not much besides from feeling like I'm going to explode, then my vision went black and I just, wasn't conscious after and that's all I remember." Void said.

"Well, you said earlier that my name was familiar to you, did anything else occur to you when I told you my name?" Kirito asked.

"No actually, I tried but I just couldn't remember anything." Void said.

Kirito finished his drink and said, "Maybe it's best we log on tomorrow and try then."

"Yeah, I gotta go anyways, I'm tired." Void said.

"Alright." Kirito said. Void then logged out.

 **Hospital**

When Void logged out, the Nurse asked, "Did anything of importance happen while you were in there?"

"I met someone." Owen said.


	26. Arc 2 Chapter 2

**I do not own Sword Art Online, Please support the official release.**

 **The Next Day - Sylvain**

Void logged in and waited in the same tavern they were in yesterday, a minute after he logged on, Kirito logged on and spawned in the tavern, and Leafa had entered the tavern just after.

"Hey there, been waiting long guys?" Kirito asked.

"Well Leafa just walked in, I logged on a minute ago." Void said.

"I went shopping for gear before I got here." Leafa said.

"Oh, that's right, I should update my equipment too. I don't think this sword is gonna be enough." Kirito said.

"Okay, I know a good weapons shop in town, but do you guys have enough money because they're not cheap." Leafa asked.

Both Void and Kirito opened their menus, "Okay, money… Wait, this thing called Yold, is that money?" Kirito asked.

"Uh huh." Leafa said.

Kirito shook his pocket and said, "Hey Yui, wake up now, we're heading out."

 **5 minutes later**

Kirito had bought a huge greatsword, and a new cloak. Void bought a longsword, and a black cloak with green lining. At the bottom of one of the towers in town, Kirito asked, "Why did we come here?"

"Well, when flying long distances, it's better if you're flying at a higher altitude, that's what the tower is here for." Leafa explained.

"Oh, that makes sense." Kirito said.

"Well, come on, let's go." Leafa said, walked ahead of the other two, they followed. "I wanna get past the forest before dark." While the three were walking, a man called Leafa's name from behind. The group turned around and saw a man, "Oh, hello Sigurd."

"What's this I hear of you leaving the party?" Sigurd asked, "Is that true?"

"Well, yeah it is." Leafa said.

"Do you have any idea how much that is going to upset the others?" Sigurd asked.

"You said it wouldn't be a problem only if I joined when I had the time. You also said I could quit whenever I wanted to." Leafa said.

"Yes I know what I said, but you've been with us for a while now, everyone knows you. If you leave it's going to damage the reputation of the party!" Sigurd said.

"Party members are not items." Kirito said.

"What did you say." Sigurd said.

"Party members aren't items, so don't expect them to be on call for you. They're not your armour, they're not your sword, and they're not your equipment." Kirito said.

"You son of a." Sigurd said, grabbing the handle of his sword, "I bet that big mouth of yours got you thrown out of your own territory. Let's see what you got you piece of Spriggan trash."

"Okay! That's it, enough! Kirito and Void are my new partners, so leave Kirito alone!" Leafa demanded.

"What!? Leafa! You're abandoning us? To be a renegade like them!?" Sigurd asked, angrily.

"Yes. I am." Leafa said. "And I'm not coming back ever!"

Sigurd drew his sword, and said, "I don't give a damn about you buzzing around my party members, but if you think you can steal them, that's another story. If you're stupid enough to walk into another race's territory then it's your own damn fault if you get killed, Spriggan!"

Kirito sighed, but one of Sigurd's members said, "This isn't the time or place Sigurd, if we gank this guy in front of all these people, we're gonna look bad."

Sigurd sheathed his sword, and said, "Once you cross our border, you better run and hide, Leafa. I never expected you to betray me like this, never. But you'll regret it soon enough" Sigurd then turned around and left.

Leafa sighed, "I'm really sorry you guys got dragged into all that drama."

"It's cool, I'm worried about you though." Kirito said.

"Are you sure about this?" Void asked. Leafa sighed and went behind Kirito and Void and led them to the top of the tower. When they got to the top, Void said, "It is pretty high up here."

"Sure is, and the timing couldn't have been better. I've been thinking about leaving here for a while now." Leafa said.

"Okay, but I feel like it's kinda my fault you left with bad terms with those guys." Kirito said.

"Yeah, well I don't think it could've happened any other way." Leafa said.

"When he said renegade, what did he mean exactly?" Void asked.

"A renegade is a player who abandons their territory. If you get branded as one, everyone's gonna look down on you." Leafa explained.

"And you're cool with that?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, I don't really care. But I don't get why everyone is so quick to tie each other down like that, I mean, what's the point in having wings, you know?" Leafa said.

Yui came out of Kirito's pocket and said, "You humans are so complicated. Honestly, you're psychology is confusing. Why do you act so horribly to each other if all you want is companionship?"

"What do you mean?" Leafa asked.

"If it were me." Yui said, before she planted a quick kiss on Kirito's cheek, "I'd do that. It's simple, straightforward, and efficient."

"Th-that's an amazing AI. Do all private pixies act like that or just yours?"Leafa asked.

"No, just mine but she's a weirdo." Kirito said, putting Yui back in her pocket.

"I guess you would know, huh." Leafa said. "All we want is companionship. Huh…"

"Well, we should start heading out now." Void said, then he stopped. He didn't activate his wings or anything, he just stopped and stared out into the sky.

"V-Void?" Leafa said.

"Wait, I think he's remembering something." Kirito whispered.

 **Flashback**

Oblivion took Lisbeth and Platia to the meeting, and they sat down. Oblivion was more focused on looking for Kirito, he couldn't see him at all and he was irritated. After the little argument Kibou came and started about the beta testers ended, a guy moved over to Oblivion and asked, "I haven't gotten any party members, mind taking me in?"

He seemed all right, he had replaced all his starter gear with upgrades, he had a longsword and a shield, black and blue cloak with shoulder guards and a chestplate. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and he looked to be 15 or 16. "All right, sure, why not?" Oblivion said, swiping a party invite to him. He accepted, and Oblivion looked to his health gauge and saw his name, Rhen.

"Well, nice to meet you, Oblivion." Rhen said. He held his hand out for a handshake, Oblivion shook his hand, and just then, the meeting was over, and the group walked out.

"I suppose I should introduce you two my other two party members. Rhen, this is Lisbeth, and this is Platia. Lisbeth and Platia, this is Rhen, he's joining our party for as long as he wishes." Oblivion said.

"Yeah, and how do you know he's not some kind of scammer that just wants to toy around?" Lisbeth asked.

"Aw come on, that'd be ridiculous." Platia said.

"Yeah, but to be sure…" Lisbeth said, she then examined his gear.

Rhen was obviously confused and he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just checking your gear, to see if it's any better than the starter sets." Lisbeth said, she continued checking, and when she finished, she said, "I guess he's fine."

"How can you tell his gears good?" Platia asked.

"I've been practicing a few skills, Identification, Blacksmithing, you know." Lisbeth said, surprising Platia, but Oblivion smirked. "What are you smirking at me like that for?" Lisbeth asked.

"Ah no reason, but y'know, blacksmithing might become a specialty for you." Oblivion said, "Though, I was looking for this other guy, couldn't find him at all, he should have been here for sure."

"Who was it you were looking for?" Rhen asked.

"His handle should be Kirito, he had black hair, black eyes." Oblivion said.

"And you're for sure he was supposed to be here and he even logged onto SAO the day of the launch?" Rhen asked.

"Yes, but, where is he?" Oblivion mumbled.

"How do you know this guy anyways?" Rhen asked.

"Hey, I've been checking the list of player's, there's a Kirito in here." Platia said, the other three turned to her.

"So he's in the game, but if you're sure he was invited, why didn't he show up?" Rhen asked.

"Yeah, if he was so important, then why would he not show up?" Lisbeth said.

"And you never explained the stuff you said back at the plaza to me, I've been waiting for you to remember but it seems I have to tell y-" Platia said, she was quickly interrupted.

"Enough! That's enough, I'll explain." Oblivion said, "Let's just go somewhere else, we've drawn enough attention already." The other three nodded and Oblivion led them to a bench, they all sat down. "Rhen, I'm from another universe, and let me put it so, I really don't give a shit if you think I'm crazy, but the amulet I'm wearing right now IRL is giving me a power equal to the power of a natural Godborn, and Godborn is a being that has a fragment of a god's power. I can travel universes by will, and if anything, I know Kirito was supposed to be at that meeting." Oblivion explained.

"Do something with your amulet then." Rhen said, smirking.

Oblivion got up and opened a portal into his universe, he stood by the portal and said, "That's my universe, you wanna go in there and see for yourself?"

"N-no I don't." Rhen said.

Oblivion closed the portal and said, "Perfect, we can move on. Kirito was gonna be at that meeting, and I didn't see a single one of them that could have been him."

"Well what's he so important for anyways?" Lisbeth asked, irritated.

"He would have beaten SAO with a blade you went and forged yourself, even though it ended up breaking, it was a powerful sword, powerful enough to keep Kirito going far through the boss fight, he would have gotten the last attack bonus on the first floor boss, but, why did he not show up?" Oblivion said.

"Oh, so you said Blacksmithing was a good specialty of mine because of that, huh?" Lisbeth asked.

Oblivion nodded, and said, "Yeah also you might develop some kinda weird crush on him because of the temperature of his hand, I never quite knew exactly why but, it happened."

"If he's dead, who's gonna beat this game?" Rhen asked.

"If he isn't alive, then I'll beat this stupid game myself, I'm not sure how he did it, in fact, he could have died, but for some reason, the game went bonkers or something and after he lost all his health, he killed the boss somehow by stabbing him through the chest. If I ever lose my health completely, I probably couldn't figure out what he did before it's too late, and the Nervegear didn't kill him either." Oblivion said.

 **Flashback End**

Void had been still for about 2 minutes, before he turned around and said, "What happened?"

Kirito and Leafa were obviously confused, Kirito said, "Nothing, you just, stood there for a good two minutes."

"Huh…" Void said. He didn't want to tell Kirito and Leafa what he just remembered, as he wanted to be careful. The memory made him remember who Kirito was at the very least, but not exactly everything that happened in SAO, so he couldn't prove himself. "Well, I apologize for that, we should go now."

Void activated his wings, and so did Leafa and Kirito, they started flying to their destination.

 **10 Minutes Later**

The group landed somewhere in a forest, they ran out of flying time, they all stretched, Leafa asked, "You guys getting tired yet?"

"Nope." Void said.

"I'm good to go too." Kirito said.

"Okay Mr. Tough Guy. I'd hate to break it to you guys but flying's out for all of us for a little while." Leafa said.

"Really, why is that?" Void asked.

"You see that mountain way over there?" Leafa asked.

"Yeah, how come?" Void asked.

"It's above the altitude limit, so we can't fly over. The only way anyone is able to get past it is by getting through the caves." Leafa explained. "It's the toughest part of the trip from Sylvain and the World Tree, or so I've heard. I've never been this far myself."

"Guess we'll walk." Kirito said. "These caves, are they long?"

"Pretty long, there's a mining town about halfway, it's neutral, so we can rest there. That reminds me, are you good for time or do you have to get back?" Leafa asked.

"Its seven at night in the real world. Yeah I can keep going for a while." Kirito said.

"I can keep going too." Void said.

"Cool, I can too so let's keep going." Leafa said. "But since we're here, we should rotate out."

"Wait, rotate?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, we take turns logging out and resting, while the other keeps watch." Leafa explained. "You can't log out when you're in the field, remember?"

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Kirito said. "Ladies first, then Void."

"Well it's okay, I don't need to rest, I'm good." Void said.

"Okay, if you're sure." Leafa said, "See you guys in about twenty minutes." Leafa then opened her menu and logged out.

About twenty minutes later, Leafa opened her eyes and said, "Hey I'm back."

"Cool, and no monsters came, so, we were good." Void said, eating some sort of candy stick, Kirito had one too.

"What are you guys eating?" Leafa asked.

"We bought a bunch at a shop in Sylvain. I don't know what they're called but an NPC said you can only get them there." Kirito said.

"I've never seen them before." Leafa said. Kirito flicked one towards her, she caught it, she put her mouth on it, she then took it out of her mouth and screamed in pain, the candy was spicy hot. She was then coughing.

Kirito said, "Sorry to leave you like this but it is my turn, keep me safe, okay?"

"Get out of here before I hurt you." Leafa warned.

Kirito opened his menu and logged out. His avatar sat lifeless. Leafa then moved by him, and sat down. Leafa noticed that his pocket was moving, Yui came out, Leafa gasped, "No way! You can move when your master is logged out!?" Leafa asked.

"Well of course I can move! You know, I'm my own person, and for your information he's not my master, he's my daddy!" Yui said.

"Yeah, about that, I was gonna ask you before, why do you call him your daddy?" Leafa asked.

"Yeah, that does seem a little off." Void said.

"Did he set you that way or something?" Leafa asked.

"He didn't do anything to my settings, he saved me, he told me I was his daughter, that makes him my daddy." Yui said.

"Yeah, I guess?" Leafa said. "Do you, like, I dunno, like him?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean by 'Like.'" Yui said.

"Are you serious? It means you wanna be with him all the time, and when you're together, you get excited about being near him, or something like that." Leafa said. Leafa then gasped, her face turned beet red and she started shaking her head.

"What's wrong Leafa?" Yui asked.

"Nothing! It's nothing!" Leafa said.

"What's nothing?" Kirito asked. "What's going on?"

Leafa gasped, "What is it?" Kirito asked. "Did something happen?"

"Nah she was just talking to Yui and she just went bonkers out of nowhere." Void said.

"Welcome back daddy." Yui said. "Leafa was just explaining to me what it means when you li-"

"NOO!" Leafa yelled. "I said it's nothing, it's nothing! I hope you got something to eat."

"Yeah, my family left something for me, so I'm good." Kirito said.

"Sweet, well, come on let's get going." Leafa said. She got up and activated her wings. Void and Kirito got up and did the same. "Is something wrong Kirito?"

"I don't know, it sorta feels like someone's watching us." Kirito said.

"Yeah, I get that feeling too." Void said.

"Yui, is there any players nearby?" Kirito asked.

"No I'm not sensing any other players." Yui said.

"It's possible someone put a tracer on us." Leafa said.

"What the heck's a tracer?" Kirito asked.

"A kind of tracking magic, it looks like a small animal, or an insect, it tells the caster the target's position." Leafa explained.

"Can you disspell it?" Kirito asked.

"Sure, if you can find it." Leafa said. "Thing is, if the tracker's magic skill is high enough, they can track you from far away, and if they're that high, it'll take forever to find it."

"Great. Eh, maybe it's just my imagination. Come on, let's go." Kirito said.


	27. Arc 2 Chapter 3

**I do not own Sword Art Online. Please support the official release.**

 **10 Minutes Later - Cave Entrance**

The group had entered the cave, Kirito had activated a spell that lit up the caves. Leafa said, "Wow, so this is night vision magic. Well, I guess Spriggans are good for something after all."

"I don't know if that was a compliment, or an insult." Kirito said.

Leafa laughed, "Well, you're practicing the magic you can use, that's the important thing. Projecting illusions is one of your specialties."

"Illusions?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah to trick people with. It's cool but it's not gonna help much in combat, but you never know, your lame Spriggan magic might actually come in handy one day." Leafa said.

Kirito sighed, "Now that was a diss."

The group walked ahead through the caves, Kirito and Void were both attempting to learn their magic now. After a while, Leafa noticed they were having trouble, she said, "You need to learn what the words of power actually mean, instead of just saying them."

"Well no wonder I couldn't get it to work." Void said. "What exactly do Sylphs like us specialize in?"

"We specialize in healing magic, it can be really useful in combat for obvious reasons." Leafa explained. "However, see that blue bar below your health? That is your mana, that's the amount of magic you have left to use, so when you use a spell it deducts a certain amount of MP, and you need to wait for it to regenerate in order to use even more magic."

"Okay, so, if I used, let's say a basic healing spell, do I have to use it on myself or my party members, or can I do both but one at a time or all of us at once?" Void asked.

"That depends on the spell you're using, some spells only heal you, some heal one person at a time, some heal all your party members all at once, but the more powerful the spell is, the more MP it's gonna cost at a time to use it." Leafa said.

"Okay… I see." Void said.

"Oh, just so you know, the higher level spells have about twenty words." Leafa said.

"Holy crap." Kirito said. "I'll just stick to fighting then…"

"Would you quit complaining?" Leafa said.

"Daddy, I'm picking up movement behind us!" Yui said.

Kirito turned around, so did Void, Kirito asked, "Are they monsters?"

"Nuh uh, they're players, a lot, twelve total." Yui said.

"You're kidding, I've got a bad feeling about this." Leafa said.

"Maybe someone really did put a tracer on us like you explained earlier Leafa. Wouldn't surprise me. Question is why are they after us of all people?" Void asked.

"No questions, we gotta take cover." Leafa said.

"Okay but where?" Kirito asked.

"Just leave everything to me." Leafa said, she then took the two to a split path and activated a spell which created a rock wall in front of them. "We can talk but we have to be really quiet about it, anything louder than a whisper and it's gonna break the spell."

"Okay." Kirito whispered.

"They'll be coming into view soon." Yui whispered.

"Can you see that?" Kirito asked.

"No, I can't see anything." Leafa said.

"I can, and I can tell it's not a player, it's got red eyes." Kirito said. "Kinda like a bat."

"Bats have red eyes?" Void asked.

In the distance, Leafa saw two beady glowing red eyes, she gasped softly, she jumped out, Kirito and Void walked out, "Why'd you break out cover?" Kirito asked.

"Because that thing over there is a high level tracer. We have to destroy it!" Leafa said. Leafa used a spell to send beams flying towards the bat, and killed it. "Come on guys we gotta go!"

Void and Kirito turned around, the group ran away, "Can't we just hide behind one of your spells again?"

"They already know we're here, that tracer had us pegged, hiding isn't gonna do us any good, besides, that bat was a fire element familiar, that can only means the ones tracking us are the Salamanders." Leafa explained.

"Dammit, what's a party of Salamanders doing way down here?" Void asked, as the town came into view.

"Woah, check out that lake!" Kirito said. A couple minutes later, they were running towards the town, across the bridge, "Looks like we're gonna get away!"

"Watch where you're going or you'll fall in!" Leafa said. A beam of light was shot from behind, and landed in front of the door, and created a rock wall. "Oh crap."

"Dammit." Kirito said, drawing his sword.

Void and Leafa drew their weapons too, and turned around, Kirito jumped towards the door and attempted to break the wall, but it failed. "That won't work." Leafa said.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Kirito asked.

"Oh like it's my fault you're in a hurry." Leafa said. "It's a high level Earth barrier, you can bash on it all day and it wouldn't destroy it." Leafa said.

"Can we jump in the lake and swim around it?" Kirito asked.

"Nope, not unless you wanna be fish food." Leafa said. "The water is filled with high level monsters, the Undines are the only ones who can fight those monsters."

"The I guess the only option is to fight." Kirito said, turning around, pointing his sword straight forward.

Void turned and got into a ready stance too.

"I'm not gonna argue with that, but it won't be easy." Leafa said. "If those Salamanders have high level Earth Magic, it can only mean one thing. They have a powerful mage on their side."

"Cool by me, let's show these guys some manners, how about it?" Void said.

"Alright, let's do this then." Kirito said. "Oh, but Leafa, I know you're good with the sword, so don't take this the wrong way, but could you back me up from here on in? I need you to stay behind, and focus on healing me, that way I can fight harder and not worry about my HP."

Leafa nodded, she jumped back.

Kirito and Void saw the Salamanders marching forward, the two charged the wave of Salamanders, Kirito and Void both swung their swords consecutively at the shield's at the front, but they managed to block the attacks, but their health was lowered a tad bit. The mages healed them with their healing magic, the mages sent a bunch of fireballs their way, they landed and hit both Void and Kirito. Kirito's remained in the green, Void's was about to hit the yellow, but the temperature had exhausted the two, Leafa then activated a healing spell, and healed them both. Kirito and Void both got up and charged the Salamanders again, going for the front shields again, their health went back into the yellow, but the Salamanders healed them again, all the way back to max HP. The mages sent another bunch of fireballs again, hitting Kirito and Void again, Leafa activated the spell again, healing the two again.

"That's enough Kirito! If we lose it just means another couple hours of flying, let's give up while we can!" Leafa called out.

"No way!" Kirito said. "As long as I'm alive I'm not gonna let anyone in my party die, I won't let that happen again!"

Void fell back, he had a feeling Kirito could take the Salamanders on by himself, but then, his mind went black, then he was seeing something.

 **Flashback**

The group were just getting done fighting a group of monsters. "That's the last one." Klein said, after he killed one. "Now all that's left is the boss room."

A second later, Oblivion heard a scream, in the direction the boss room was. "Everyone! Boss room now!" Oblivion ordered. He then ran first, ahead of Kirito and Asuna.

When they got to the boss room, they saw the boss, Gleam Eyes, mowing down the army. "Don't just stand there! Use your teleport crystals!" Kirito yelled.

"We can't! They're not working!" One of them said.

"Isn't there something we can do!?" Klein said.

Corvotz ordered a charge on the boss, and his group started going. "Don't do it!" Kirito yelled. Gleam Eyes let out a loud roar, pushing back the group, and swung it's blade down at the group, knocking over 5 players. Gleam Eyes swung again, at Corvotz, and landed a hit on his shoulder. "Hey! Hang on Corvotz." Kirito said.

Corvotz's helmet then broke into many shiny pieces, and soon, so he did too. Asuna gasped, one of the army members yelled, Gleam Eyes, raised its sword up. Asuna then yelled and charged towards the boss, Kirito went with her.

Klein gasped, Oblivion said, "Come on, us too." Oblivion used his Reflex Tester skill to launch himself over towards the boss.

"Oh what the hell." Klein mumbled, and then proceeded to charge Gleam Eyes with the group.

Asuna jumped towards the boss and landed 7 hits with her Rapier. Gleam Eyes turned and slammed Asuna across the room. Gleam Eyes proceeded to finish her off, before Kirito jumped in front of her, and using his Elucidator, redirected the sword's direction, and landed right beside Asuna.

"Get out!" Kirito ordered. Asuna did so and jumped back.

Kirito landed a cut on the beast's back, Oblivion, using Fryz, slashed at Gleam Eyes' leg, freezing his thigh, making him fall over. The beast got back up and with an irritated expression on his face, looked towards Oblivion and Kirito. Gleam Eyes swung at Oblivion first, Oblivion dodged the attack by rolling to the left, Kirito then jumped at the beast, and with intentions to land a cut on it's neck, Gleam Eyes jumped back, and swung at Kirito, he blocked the strike, but Gleam Eyes kept pushing down on him.

"Get out of there!" Everyone in the background was saying. Oblivion jumped towards Gleam Eyes and landed a cut on his wrist, freezing his ability to use his sword for a while, allowing him and Kirito to fall back for a short bit.

"Klein! Asuna! Oblivion! I need about ten seconds! Keep him off me!" Kirito yelled. He jumped back and the group protected him. Kirito was scrolling through his skills tab, looking for the dual wielding skill. When he found it, he selected it, and said, "I'm ready!"

Asuna then batted away Gleam Eyes's sword, allowing Kirito to land a strike, Kirito then ran towards Gleam Eyes, drawing both his Elucidator, and his Dark Repulser, and swung upwards at the beast's jaw, knocking his head back. Oblivion jumped back, as he wanted Kirito to have his moment. Gleam Eyes swung his blade down at Kirito, he used both his swords to block, and bat away the blade. Kirito then activated his Starburst Stream skill, landing multiple hits on both the abdomen, and the chest. The beast kept beating on him, and thrusts his blade at Kirito, however, Kirito stabbed the beast right in the abdominals, and ran it's health down to zero, and Gleam Eyes burst into tiny shards and flew through the whole room.

"Is it over?" Kirito whispered to himself, before falling over, with only a tiny portion of his health left.

 **Flashback End**

Void knew he was regaining his memories, he had no idea how they were recovering so fast, but they were, maybe the Medicuboid was helping him after all, and he remembers more than half the events from SAO already. The only thing he didn't remember was what happened in the end.

Kirito let out a battle cry, he then charged the Salamanders, he grabbed hold of one of their shields and attempted to stab him around the side.

Yui flew towards Leafa and said, "Hurry! Use a shield to protect him from the next magic attack!"

"How is that going to help?" Leafa asked. Kirito fell back after noticing the Salamanders were about to send in another dozen of fireballs. Leafa then used the spell to shield him from the fireballs incoming.

"Do it now daddy!" Yui yelled.

Kirito then activated a spell, and all the fire blazing around him was whipped up into a tornado, and when the embers dissipated, revealed a Gleam Eye's like monster. The Beast Kirito charged the group of Salamanders, he clawed one of them with his sharp claws, and killed one of the shields. Kirito then reached his head down and ate one of the Salamanders, and punched one away. The Beast charged the rest of the Salamanders, seeing that they were about to hit him with more fireballs. He jumped up, when he landed, he tail whipped two of them away, he slammed the ground with his fist, killing two more, he swung his claws four times and kills four of them one by one. There was one foolish Salamander who decided to jump into the water, who was eaten alive. The Beast held the last Salamander, Leafa called out to him, telling him not to kill him, the beast then dropped the poor man.

Leafa drew her sword and said, "If you wanna live you better tell us who sent you asshats after us."

"Never! Kill me if you want!" The Salamander said.

"You got it." Leafa said.

Then, Kirito started cheering happily, he said, "Aw man, now that was cool." Kirito knelt down by the Salamander and said, "That was an awesome fight. Your plan wasn't shabby either. If I was alone I wouldn't last a minute against you dorks."

"What are you telling him that for?" Leafa asked.

"He's making a deal with the Salamander, in return, for the answer of the question you asked." Void said.

"That's correct. How'd you know?" Kirito asked.

"Just a lucky guess." Void said.

"Well, look here, this is all the Yold and items I got for beating your sorry asses, all you have to do is answer my questions and they could be yours." Kirito said.

"Seriously?" The Salamander asked.

"Totally." Kirito said.

 **5 Minutes Later**

"Earlier I got a text from the leader of the mage squad, to meet him here, and when I got here he told us he needed twelve of us to go on a hunt for three players. At first I thought it was overkill, then he said they took out Kagemune, so it made sense." The Salamander explained.

"Who's this Kagemune guy anyways?" Void asked.

"He's the leader of the lancer squad and he's known for hunting Sylphs. Yesterday, he got creamed in a fight and had to retreat. That was you guys, wasn't it?" The Salamander asked.

"So why is this other guy interested in getting us out of the way?" Leafa asked.

"Well, for one it had to do with interfering with a plan. Something along those lines." The Salamander said.

"Yeah, you know this plan?" Kirito asked.

"I'm just a grunt, they don't tell me nothing." The Salamander said. "But, I am pretty sure something big is going down. When I logged in today, I saw a swarm of Salamander troops heading north."

"They're gonna try and clear the world tree, aren't they?" Void asked.

"I doubt that, someone figured, to take the Tree, our army would need ancient class equipment and we can't afford that stuff." The Salamander said. "That's everything I know, I promise. You weren't lying about your end of the deal were you?"

"Nope, I'm a man of my word, partner." Kirito said.

A minute later, Leafa asked Kirito, "So was that an illusion or was that actually you?"

"Yeah, I don't remember." Kirito said.

"Wait, you don't know?" Leafa asked.

"Not really, it just happens sometimes, in the heat of battle I'll snap and can't remember a thing after." Kirito said.

"Woah, scary." Leafa said.

"Yeah that's nuts." Void said.

"Though, I think I remember most of what happened this time." Kirito said, "Like, I know I used that spell Yui suggested. I also remember getting huge, that was cool. I remember losing my sword, and grabbing people."

"And you were chomping down on them too, remember that?" Yui asked.

"Oh hoh yeah, I totally felt like a monster, eating people and everything." Kirito said.

"So uhh, what did they taste like?" Leafa asked.

"Kinda like grilled meat right before it gets burnt. All crispy and.." Kirito said.

"Okay sorry I asked!" Leafa said.

Kirito then grabbed Leafa's hand and softly bit it, Leafa screamed out in pain and slapped Kirito right across the face.

When they got into town, Kirito's face was still red, he said, "Ow, that hurt."

"Then you shouldn't be biting people." Yui said.

"That's funny coming from a kid." Void said, laughing.

"Why is everyone ganging up on me?" Kirito asked. "Was just trying to break the tension from the stupid joke is all."

"Bite me again and I'll cut you in half." Leafa said.

"Yes Ma'am." Kirito said.

"Oh look!" Leafa said. Leafa walked over to the store and checked out a sword.

"Hey, you know what, I just realized something." Void said.

"Really? What is it?" Kirito asked, hoping it had to do with his memory.

"Remember Sigurd, right?" Void asked, the two nodded, "Well, something about him seems off, I think he's about to betray the Sylph commander."

"What!? What makes you think that?" Leafa asked.

"I don't know, just a hunch is all. Maybe he's the one really responsible for putting a tracer on us, after all, he seemed much more angry after what happened in Sylvain, compared to Kagemune, Kagemune wasn't angry, he seemed chill actually. Besides, why would Kagemune target me and you anyways, well the answer is simple, Sigurd." Void explained.

"To be honest, I thought you'd say something in regards to your memory, but this is not what I expected. But maybe you're right, the way Sigurd has been recently is very suspicious." Leafa said. "Wait a minute…"

"What?" Void asked.

"The Sylph commander is supposed to be forming an alliance with the Caitsith today. I'm pretty sure Sigurd knows about it. If that's the case we need to go, now." Leafa said.

"Then let's hurry." Kirito said.


	28. Arc 2 Chapter 4

**I do not own Sword Art Online. Please support the official release.**

The group ran outside of town, "Forty minutes from now, the Sylphs and the Caitsiths are gonna have a meeting."

"Mind if I ask a couple questions before getting there?" Kirito asked.

"Sure, go ahead." Leafa said.

"If the Salamanders are gonna attack the Sylphs and the Caitsiths, what are they gonna get out of it?" Kirito asked.

"For one they'd stop the alliance from happening. If the Caitsiths found out their leader died because a Sylph betrayed them, they'd be pretty pissed, wouldn't they?" Leafa said.

"Super pissed." Kirito said.

"It's a good way to start a war between the Sylphs and the Caitsith, that's for sure." Leafa said. "It's also a good way to earn money, if you take out the leader of a territory, you get thirty percent of their money, you can invade that town for ten days and charge whatever tax you want."

"No way, really?" Kirito asked.

"Seriously! Would I lie to you guys?" Leafa asked. "This isn't your problem Kirito, this is a Sylph problem, you don't have any reason to get involved and risk your life for it. If we make it to the meaning, chances are we won't make it back alive, and we'll probably have to start over from Sylvain again." Leafa then stopped, so did Void and Kirito. "But this could work for you, you wanna get to the top of the world tree, so, you might be better off working with the Salamanders. If they can pull this off, it'll give them the power and resources to make an attempt at the World Tree, and since you're a Spriggan, they might hire you as a mercenary. So, if you wanted to kill me, you could. I wouldn't hold it against you."

"It's just a game in the end, anything goes, right? If you wanna kill, you kill. If you wanna steal, you steal. A lot of people think like that, more than I care to know, and in a way, I get it. Even I used to think like that. But none of it's true. In a virtual world, there's things you have to protect because it's a virtual world. Someone special taught me that. If you give in to your impulses in here, it's gonna change who you are in the real world, the player and the character are one and the same. Leafa, you're a good person, and I wanna be your friend, so it doesn't matter what the reason is, there's no way in hell I'd attack a friend for my own benefit. I couldn't live with myself." Kirito said.

"Kirito, I.. Thank you." Leafa said.

"Oh, wow, I sounded pretentious, didn't I? Sorry about that." Kirito said.

"Nuh uh, that was pretty cool." Leafa said, smiling.

"Guy's I hate to kill the mood here but we gotta go, we can't take the chance and not make it there on time." Void said.

"Right! Let's go. Yui, lead the way." Kirito said.

"Alright." Leafa said.

"Here, give me your guy's hand." Kirito said, taking hold of both Leafa and Void's hands.

"Oh, uh, okay but uh." Leafa said.

"Come on!" Kirito said. Kirito then ran as fast as he could, Leafa screamed, and then monsters spawned, but Kirito just ran right past them, "There's the exit!" Kirito said, when they reached the edge, Kirito jumped, and the three started flying.

"Are you trying to kill me!?" Leafa asked.

"No just trying to save us some time." Kirito said.

"You and your shortcuts.." Leafa said.

The group looked ahead, they saw the tree they wanted to get to for so long. The World Tree. "Wait a sec, do you even know where this meeting is happening?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, I'll check." Leafa said, opening her menu, "Northwest, inside that mountain." Leafa said.

"How much time do we have left?" Void asked.

"Twenty minutes." Leafa said.

"Then we're not going fast enough." Kirito said, the group then flew faster towards their destination.

"We're still not going fast enough. At this rate we're not gonna make it before the Salamanders." Kirito said.

"I know, even if we can warn them it doesn't mean we'll be able to get the commanders out in time." Leafa said. "We might end up dying with them in battle."

"I've got player readings. Sixty eight of them flying in formation. From what I can tell, it could be then Salamander attack squad!" Yui siad. Kirito looked down, he saw them, ahead of them. "There are fourteen more players on the plateau. Most likely they are the diplomats from the Sylphs and the Caitsiths. The two groups of players will make contact in fifty seconds."

"We didn't make it after all… Thanks for trying Kirito, Void, but this is far enough, I'm gonna try and save Sakuya. Get out of here and head for the World Tree. We didn't get to hand out for long, but it was fun, hope we meet again someday."

"Sorry, but running away from a fight isn't my style." Kirito said.

"Same here. If there's a slight chance, we're taking it." Void said.

Meanwhile, at the Plateau, the Salamanders arrived. The leader was about to order a charge, but something came from the sky and landed hard on the ground. It was Kirito, he said, "Salamanders! Stand down!"

"Sakuya." Leafa said.

"Leafa? What are you doing here? And who is this other Sylph? I don't believe I met him." Sakuya said.

"It's too complicated to get into right now, oh but this is Void, he joined Alfheim yesterday." Leafa explained.

"Hello." Void said. Sakuya waved hello to Void, "You see that guy out there? The fates of our races depend on his next move."

"You have got to be kidding…" Sakuya said.

"I want to talk to your commander!" Kirito said. The Salamander revealed himself, Kirito flew over to him.

"What the hell is a Spriggan like you doing here?" The Commander asked. "I'm gonna kill you no matter what your answer, but since you're brave enough to face me I might as well hear you out."

"My name is Kirito, I'm an ambassador for the Spriggan Undine alliance, since you're on the offensive today, I'm assuming you wanna wage a full on war between all our races." Kirito said.

"The Undines are allied with the Spriggans huh? And you're supposed to be their ambassador and you come here without a guard?" The Commander asked.

"Yeah that's right, so what? I was sent here to negotiate trade deals with the Sylphs and the Caitsiths, but if you're gonna interrupt our talks, you're gonna get to feel some serious hurt. All of our races are gonna team up, and we'll bring the fight to the Salamanders." Kirito said.

"You're kidding me right? You're all alone and you got crappy gear, so there's no way you can be anyone's ambassador." The Commander said, drawing his sword. "If you can survive my attacks for thirty seconds, then I'll believe you are who you say you are."

"Gee thanks, that's pretty generous." Kirito said.

"This is bad." Sakuya said.

"Why so?" Void asked.

"Do you see that Salamander's sword?" Sakuya asked.

"Yeah? What about it?" Void asked.

"It's the demonic sword gram, you need a two handed skill of nine hundred and fifty to wield it." Sakuya said.

"Holy cow." Void said.

"Yes, and there's only one person who I know can use it, General Eugene. Have you heard of him?" Sakuya asked.

"No I haven't, honestly I've only been on for two days, the stuff that goes on in this game is nuts." Void said.

"He's the younger brother of Mortimer, the leader of the Salamanders. They're brother's IRL too, Mortimer is a brilliant strategist, but in terms of power and strength, they say Eugene is the game's strongest player."

"Talk about another Heathcliff over here." Void joked, quietly. "Wait…" Void stopped for a moment, he was seeing something.

 **Flashback**

"Before I go, Oblivion, Kirito, I feel like you two deserve a reward for discovering my identity, so, I'll give either of you a chance."

"A chance for what." Kirito asked.

"Isn't it obvious, to fight me, one on one, right here, right now, and my immortality will be deactivated. One of you two stand up and duel me, defeat me, and all the players will be able to log out of this world, no strings attached, what do ya say?" Heathcliff offered.

Oblivion noticed Kirito was having thoughts too, and Oblivion knew what those thoughts were, but Oblivion got up first and said, "Me first."

Heathcliff chuckled, "Very well."

"Before we start, could you do something for me." Oblivion asked.

"Depends, but I'll gladly hear what you have to ask." Heathcliff said.

"I don't plan on dying, but if I do, and Kirito does too, I want you to make it so that Kirito's girlfriend cant kill herself, same for my girlfriend, plus, my party members, and anyone on my friends list." Oblivion requested.

"That's an interesting request, I'll take it." Heathcliff said, opening his menus.

"Oblivion! Why!? This isn't fair!" Asuna said.

"I have to, if it means saving all of you guys, I'm not gonna miss my chance." Oblivion said. He drew both his swords, Fryz and Slicer, and walked towards Heathcliff.

"Oblivion! What're you thinking!?" Rhen yelled.

"Oblivion! Don't do this!" Klein yelled.

"Rhen, I haven't really said this yet, but, thanks, for being such a good second in command, and for being such a good friend." Oblivion said. "Klein, I know we haven't talked much, but, thanks for looking out for Kirito." Oblivion turned, looked towards his girlfriend, Lisbeth, who was silent the whole time and said, "Lisbeth. Thank you, for everything."

"Oblivion! Wait! Don't do this please!" She begged.

"I'm sorry, but if it means saving you, I'm taking the chance." Oblivion said. He turned back to Heathcliff. "So, we doing this or what?"

"Absolutely." Heathcliff said, drawing his sword.

Oblivion then ran towards Heathcliff, he swung Fryz from his left, hitting Heathcliff's shield, and swung Slicer from his right hitting his shield, he did this as fast as he could, repeating this pattern, bashing his shield back, until he pushed him back to the edge of the room. Heathcliff shield bashed Oblivion to the other side, Heathcliff ran towards Oblivion and swung his blade from his right towards Oblivion, Oblivion batted away the strike and fell back. Oblivion then charged at Heathcliff again, and swung Fryz from his right, pushing Heathcliff's shield slightly to the right, Oblivion was about to swing Slicer at Heathcliff, but Heathcliff jumped to the left and shield bashed Oblivion again, launching him upwards. Oblivion used this opportunity to use something he never before used. He threw his weapons away, and a sheath appeared on his back, Oblivion drew the Sword forged by the Dwarves, a single cut could kill anyone. As he drew the sword, huge amounts of magical energy burst from the blade, so powerful, it ripped the cloak straight off Oblivion's torso, revealing the amulet he'd been wearing for so long.

Oblivion landed, and Heathcliff said, "My, I never seen an amulet like that before, I never added anything like it. I wonder, what does it do?"

"You should be asking about my sword instead, and not the amulet." Oblivion said.

"Oh yes! Where on earth, or should I say, where in Aincrad's name did you get a weapon like that?" Heathcliff asked.

"Nowhere special." Oblivion said, smirking. Not only can Dainsleif kill an opponent in one hit, but it also gives Oblivion demonic enhancements, the only visible proof was the fact that his left eye turned blood red, his other remained blue. Oblivion's strength was increased by 2 times, so was his speed. Oblivion charged Heathcliff again and unleashed a flurry combo of 50 hits, but Heathcliff managed to block them all.

"My oh my, you have such incredible speed Oblivion, but I swear you didn't have such speed before you drew that mysterious sword." Heathcliff boasted.

"You wanna see speed huh? I'll show you speed." Oblivion said, he then charged Heathcliff again, unleashing another flurry of attacks, same amount of hits, but delivered 0.5 times faster, however, Heathcliff still managed to block every single hit with nothing but his fast reaction time and his shield. Oblivion then fell back again, he had to try something else. He had his Reflex Tester skill, or he could use another one he recently picked up, called Demon's Bane, which increases his Strength and Speed by 2, combine that with Dainsleif's demonic enhancements, that would increase his both his Strength and Speed by 4 times. The skill lasted for 10 seconds, and has a cooldown for 30. Oblivion used it and charged Heathcliff once again, but before Oblivion could land a single hit, Heathcliff shield bashed him to the ground and went for a stab, Oblivion rolled out of the way and went for a kick, Heathcliff blocked it with his shield.

"Is that all you got!?" Oblivion yelled.

"Not exactly." Heathcliff said, he got into a stance and his sword started glowing.

Oblivion then used his reflex tester skill and launched himself over at Heathcliff with his sword pointing straight at him. Heathcliff reacted just in time, and when Oblivion was in range, Heathcliff had sent his blade through Oblivion's gut, Dainsleif flew out of Oblivion's grasp. Heathcliff had believed that it was over, Oblivion's health lowered into the yellow quickly, without his cloak, he had absolutely no protection over the damage he was taking. Oblivion's health lowered into the red. When Heathcliff thought it was all done and over, he said, "Game Over." At that moment, Oblivion had let out a final battle cry before he used the last of the demonic power he possessed to use a demonic skill called Retrieve to get Dainsleif back in his grasp and send the blade through Heathcliff's chest. Heathcliff's health quickly lowered into the red, and then reached zero. Heathcliff then shattered into shards. Five seconds later, so did Oblivion.

Oblivion saw nothing, a second later, he saw the message, "You Are Dead." Oblivion was well enough prepared for this moment. Soon enough, his consciousness was gone.

 **Flashback End**

"I remember…" Void said.

"You what?" Leafa asked.

Meanwhile, in the sky, Kirito and Eugene, were face to face. The sun glared into Kirito's eye, that's when Eugene went for the first hit. Kirito attempted to block the attack but Eugene's sword fazed right through his sword, and sent Kirito flying down towards a cliff. Kirito flew right back up swung his sword at Eugene, he blocked the attack.

"Hehe, can't believe you're not dead." Eugene said.

"What the hell kind of attack was that!?" Kirito said, batting Eugene's sword away. He swung horizontally, Eugene dodged the attack, Kirito swung the other way, Eugene dodged again, Eugene swung twice, he missed first swing, but hit Kirito second try, Eugene went for a finishing move by sending the tip of his blade towards Kirito's skull, but Kirito blocked the attack, spinning in a circle, he swung his sword vertically, Eugene blocked the attack, he then swung his sword straight through Kirito's blade and knocked him away.

"Hey big red, I think your thirty seconds are up by now." Kirito said.

"I've changed my mind, I've decided to kill you anyways. Now you have to survive until I do." Eugene said.

"Yeah, that figures." Kirito said. "But I won't go down that easy." He flew towards Eugene, the two clashed each other, but meanwhile, on the Plateau, Sakuya said "This won't end well, they both seem like equally skilled fighters. But Eugene's weapon is far more superior."

"He can do it." Leafa said. "Kirito can beat him I know it."

Kirito swung his sword horizontally, Eugene blocked, Kirito swung again and again and again, Eugene blocked each of his attacks, Kirito swung downwards, Eugene blocked but was pushed down, Eugene swung upwards, and sent a flurry of attack, cutting his arm, his cheek, and his hip. Eugene swung again, but Kirito flew back, Eugene went after him, but Kirito wasn't stopping. Kirito used a spell to send a big smoke cloud at Eugene, trapping him inside. Kirito flew over to Leafa and took her sword, he said, "I need to borrow this for a sec."

Eugene then swung his sword, dissipating the cloud, Kirito however, disappeared. Until, looking skyward, Eugene saw Kirito falling from the sky, Eugene flew upwards in his direction, Eugene swung his sword at Kirito, it fazed through, however, Kirito drew Leafa's sword and blocked the attack, Kirito then sent a flurry of attack straight to Eugene, cutting him all over his upper body region, Eugene activated a shield spell, Kirito broke through it, causing it to explode. Eugene flew upwards to Kirito, he swung his sword, but missed, Kirito stabbed Eugene through the gut, with both his swords. He flew downwards, pushing Eugene with him. Eugene grabbed Kirito by the neck, but Kirito kicked him down, and sent another flurry of attacks, cutting him up even more. Kirito then let out a battle cry, and swung Leafa's sword downwards into Eugene's shoulder, Eugene cried out in pain, Kirito pushed the blade even further, and chopped Eugene in half, sending his remains as he was exploding to shards down to the ground like a Salamander's watched in fear as their General flew down to the ground.

Sakuya raised her arm with a fan in her hand and said, "Splendid! Marvelous!"

"That was the most amazing fight ever!" The Caitsith leader said.

Everyone cheered loudly for Kirito, even the Salamanders cheered for him.

Later, Kirito flew back down, Void walked up and said, "That was awesome Kirito, I haven't seen anything like that in a long while."

"Really? Well, thanks." Kirito said.

The two turned, and watched, as Sakuya revived Eugene. Eugene got up, and stretched. He turned to Kirito and said, "You're an excellent fighter, in fact you're the most powerful player I've ever seen. Well done."

"You're not so bad yourself." Kirito said.

"I never thought the Spriggans had anyone like you in their ranks, this world's a bigger place than I thought." Eugene said.

"Are we cool then?" Kirito asked. "Will you withdraw?"

"Eugene, may I have a word?" One Salamander said.

"Kagemune? What is it?" Eugene asked.

"You might find this interesting, you know how my party was wiped out yesterday?" Kagemune asked.

"So?" Eugene asked.

"This Spriggan, he's the same guy who took everyone out. And he was travelling with an Undine. Two of them actually." Kagemune said.

"Interesting… Then I guess I have to believe you. But just for the record, the last thing our leader wants is to go to war with the Spriggans and the Undines. We'll withdraw for now, but I'm gonna be looking forward to fighting you again." Eugene said.

"Then that makes two of us." Kirito said. The two fist bumped. A little while after, all the Salamanders flew away. "I guess some Salamanders can be cool after all."

"You really are insane you know that?" Leafa said.

"Yeah I get that a lot." Kirito said.

"Excuse me, but could one of you three explain what's going on?" Sakuya asked.

"Sigurd did this. He meant to get the Salamanders to attack you, so that one, the alliance wouldn't happen, and two, so that the Caitsith would lose trust, due to Sigurd also being of the Sylphs, therefore, betraying our race." Void explained.

"I see, I knew there was something up with Sigurd's attitude recently. He seems so irritated." Sakuya said. "My guess is that he was dissatisfied with the state of things. That in terms of power, he couldn't accept that we had fallen behind the Salamanders. Power is very important to a man like Sigurd. Not just for his abilities and character stats, but also as a player. He craves power."

"Still, that doesn't really explained why he turned a spy for the Salamanders." Void said.

"That must have to do with the new update that is going to be released soon. I heard a rumour that they were going to implement a new reincarnation system. I am sure Mortimer made him an offer. 'Bring me the head of your leader and I'll reincarnate you as a Salamander." Sakuya said.

"So now what, what will you do now?" Void asked.

"Rue, have you leveled up your dark magic skill yet?" Sakuya asked the Caitsith leader. She nodded. "Open a moonlight mirror to Sigurd."

"Okay then." Rue said, she then casted the spell, and a moonlight mirror appeared, in it, Sigurd was sitting at a table, having a drink. Sakuya said, "Sigurd." Sigurd was startled, and jumped up.

"S-Sakuya!?" Sigurd said.

"Nice to see you too, unfortunately for you I'm still alive." Sakuya said.

"How? I- I mean, what happened?" Sigurd asked.

"It went very well, there's still the matter of signing the treaty though. By the way, we had an unexpected guest." Sakuya said.

"What guest?" Sigurd asked.

"His name is General Eugene, and he sends his regards." Sakuya said.

"Leafa. So that's it. Those incompetent lizards. Well, it's your move Sakuya, what are you gonna do? Find me?" Sigurd asked. "Or maybe you wanna take away my command. Remember, if it wasn't for me running your military, you're rule won't last very long."

"Actually, I was thinking of granting them the request they give you, since you can't stand being a Sylph, you're free to go." Sakuya said.

"Wait, what?" Sigurd asked. "Hold on, are you crazy? Me? You're banishing me!?" SIgurd asked.

"I'm letting you leave to wander the Neutral territory as a renegade. Out there, you might be lucky enough to find something worth your 'precious time.'" Sakuya said.

"You bitch!" Sigurd said, before he was teleported away. The mirror had disappeared as well.

"Sakuya?" Leafa said.

"Thank you Leafa. For saving us. You have no idea how grateful I am having you around." Sakuya said.

"Oh, well, I didn't really do anything. If you wanna thank someone thank Kirito." Leafa said.

"Hoo boy…" Void said.

"She's right, whoever you are, you have my thanks." Sakuya said.

"Hey handsome." Rue said.

"Alright that does it, I'm leaving, this is too cringey." Void said. "God writing these parts down makes me wanna barf my guts out sometimes."

A while later, Kirito said, "Thanks for all you guy's offers, but, Leafa promised me to take her to the world tree, and I promised Void I'd help him get his memories back."

"Does that mean you people are done making out with him!?" Void yelled from a distance.

"Get his memories back? He has amnesia?" Sakuya asked.

"Something like that, yeah. Something about him seems familiar though, his fighting style, his personality, it's like I've known this guy before." Kirito said.

"Really? That could mean you do know him. Have you tried asking him his real name?" Sakuya asked.

"Well, the person I'm thinking he is, I wouldn't know his real name. If I asked him if he remembered another name though, that might help him." Kirito said.

"Well do it, what are you waiting for?" Leafa asked.

Kirito walked over to Void and said, "Hey, can I ask you something serious?"

"Sure, what is it Kirito?" Void asked.

"Do you remember the name, Oblivion, by any chance?"


	29. Arc 2 Chapter 5

**I do not own Sword Art Online. Please support the official release.**

"Thank you so much for coming today. Leafa, Kirito, Void. If you hadn't been here to stop them, the Salamanders would have become more powerful than ever. I'd like to pay you back somehow." Sakuya said.

"Maybe someday, but you need not worry about it Ma'am." Void said.

"Yeah, oh no, it was nothing." Kirito said.

"Hey Sakuya, Alica, wasn't the point of you guys getting here to go for the World Tree?" Leafa asked.

"Ultimately, yes, that was our goal." Sakuya said.

"If you're okay with it, and it's no trouble, we'd like to go with you, we're kind of a hurry to get there though." Leafa said.

"I can't see why not. In fact, the truth is, we'd be grateful to have you three coming along. But, why are you in such a hurry to get there?" Sakuya asked.

"She's not in a hurry, I'm the one who has to get to the top of the tree. I think someone I know is up there, waiting for me." Kirito said.

"Is it Oberon the Fairy King?" Sakuya asked.

"No actually. It's someone I can't reach in real life. But in here, I might be able to." Kirito said.

"We'd like to help you, but setting up to raid the tree is gonna take time to set up, we've ought to gear up the raid party and stuff. And that'll take us way more than a few days." Rue said.

"I see." Kirito said. "Never mind then, I don't wanna raid the tree like that, I just wanna get to the base of it as soon as possible. So it's cool, we'll figure it all out." Kirito said. "Oh, right." Kirito went in his inventory, and equipped a bag of money, and said, "Maybe this will help you guys prepare for the raid."

Rue went to pick it up, but she dropped it, being too heavy to carry, "Woah! Sakuya look, check it out!" She said.

"A hundred thousand pieces of Mythril Yold!? You don't want it? You can build a castle on prime land with this!" Sakuya said.

"Nah, it's yours. I don't need it anymore." Kirito said.

"You are so awesome. With this bag of loot, we got just about enough for new gear!" Rue said.

"We'll get ready as fast as we can. When we're set to go, we'll message you, okay?" Sakuya said.

"Yeah, you got it." Kirito said.

A little while later, the Sylphs, and the Caitsiths flew away. "I don't know about you, but I can't believe you pulled that off."

"Oh honestly, I thought I told you, no more flirting daddy!" Yui said, flying out of her pocket.

"I wasn't flirting with anyone!" Kirito said.

"I noticed when those girls were clinging to you, your heart rate increased." Yui said.

"I'm a guy, that's what happens when girls get too close." Kirito said.

"Seriously…" Yui said.

"What about me? I'm a girl, isn't that a problem?" Leafa asked.

"No, you seem pretty safe to me Leafa." Yui said.

"What do you mean safe?" Leafa asked.

"I think what she means is that, most of the time, you don't really seem like a girl." Kirito said.

"Okay, woah! Say that again, I dare you!" Leafa said.

"Here we go again…" Void said.

Leafa got a hold of her sword, Kirito said, "No! I meant you're easy to get along with, I meant it in a good way." Kirito jumped up with his wings, and said, "Come on, we still got a ways to go before we get to the Tree, the sun's starting to go down."

"Okay, I'm coming." Leafa said. She and Void both jumped with their wings and flew along with Kirito.

 **20 Minutes Later**

The sun went down, filling the night sky bright and full of stars, but that wasn't all, the city glowed bright like a star on its own, "It's amazing." Kirito said.

"I know, isn't it? Welcome to Aurune, it's the center of Alfheim, it's also the biggest city in this world." Leafa said.

"Yeah, we finally got here." Kirito said.

"How exciting, I've never been to a city this big before!" Yui said, excitedly.

"Me neither, the lights are beautiful, like a bunch of twinkling stars." Leafa said.

The city's bell then made a loud 'dong' sounds, a woman then said, "Attention players, the server will be down today, January the 22nd from four am, to three pm for scheduled maintenance. We ask that all players log out no more than 10 minutes before shutdown."

"I guess that's it for the night. We should all find a place to logout." Void said.

"Yeah, let's go then." Kirito said. "Well, I hope we can find some place good, nothing too pricey though, I sorta blew through all my cash today."

"Yeah? Where'd all that money go, huh Kirito." Void joked.

"Yeah should have save a little for the inn, big spender." Leafa said. "You're dad's financially challenged, do you know if there's a cheap inn anywhere?" Leafa asked Yui.

"There's one there and from what I can tell, it's super cheap." Yui said.

"Great, super cheap, yay." Leafa said.

"Come on guys, let's go." Kirito said.

 **The Next Day**

Void woke up in the inn they logged out from the other night, five seconds later, Kirito and Leafa logged in too, they all got up from their beds. "Hey Leafa, hey Void." Kirito said.

"Hey Kirito." Void said.

Kirito and Void walked over to Leafa, Kirito saw Leafa looked upset, he asked, "What's wrong Leafa? You okay?"

"Nuh uh." Leafa said, starting to tear up, she said, "I'm not okay at all. I just. I just… I just got my heart broken. I'm sorry guys, I don't know why I'm telling you this, we just met, and I know it's not cool to drag their real life problems into the game."

Kirito sat by her and said, "It's okay to cry. It doesn't matter if you're here or in the real world, there's no rule, even in a game you can show your feelings if you want."

"Kirito?" Leafa said.

Void sat by her as well and said, "I know what it's like to be heartbroken too, you can look at me and think, 'this guy's not depressed or lonely at all, it's like he's on the top of the world' but sometimes I just don't feel that. Sometimes there is a reason, and sometimes there isn't, but most of the time there is, a friend of mine I once knew that I remembered this morning, despite my memory loss, she was one of those friends who helped me, she'd be there to help me when I needed it, it was the only time I really felt as if someone had actually cared about me. So, I always thought, I wanted to be more like that, rather than some guy who just dicks around with people. I wanna be helpful, so here I am, whatever you need to say, you can say it to us."

"Void.." Leafa said, she started crying now, she covered her eyes, which were full of tears. After a while, she stopped, and she said, "I should be okay now… Thanks for the pep talk guys, you two are really sweet you know that?"

"Yeah, well.. You're probably the only person that thinks that about me." Kirito said.

"I'm always happy to help, like I said. You're very welcome." Void said.

"Leafa, you wanna log off for the day?" Kirito asked. "I could make it the rest of the way myself."

"Well, no, I've come this far so I might as well go all the way." Leafa said, getting up, "Come on guys, let's go."

Kirito and Void then got up, "Yui? You here?" Kirito asked.

Yui appeared, she yawned, and said, "Good morning. I hope you three slept well!"

"Good morning Yui. Hey, I didn't get the chance to ask you yesterday but, do Navi Pixies ever sleep?" Leafa asked.

"Oh, nope, when daddy logs out, I shut down my input circuits, and process the data I've acquired. You could consider it a little like human sleep, but it's not." Yui explained.

"Then, how come you yawned?" Leafa asked.

"Oh, well that's what humans do during their bootup sequence. When daddy yawns, it usually lasts for eight seconds." Yui explained.

"Bootup sequence? Yui, us humans don't have that, that's not human terminology, silly." Void said.

"Please keep the weird trivia to yourself." Kirito said.

Later, outside the Inn, "You guys ready to go?" Kirito asked.

"Yup." Leafa and Void said. They walked into the city, Leafa said, "There's tons of people here."

"I guess this really is the center of Alfheim." Kirito said.

"Yeah, people of all races are in this city, despite everything we went through with the other races like the Salamanders, here we are in a city and everyone is socializing, no matter what race. You know? If only real life was more like this everywhere, people should be more, accepting." Void said.

"Yeah if only." Kirito. "That would be awesome." The group continued up the stairs, they looked up, and saw the Tree. "There it is. The World Tree."

"Yeah, and it looks even more amazing up close, doesn't it?" Leafa asked.

"Hey, I heard there was supposed to be a city up there at the top, what else?" Kirito asked.

"Oberon the Fairy King lives there, along with the Alf, the fairies of light. And they say the first race to get to the top and see the king, will become an Alf." Leafa said.

"Has anyone tried climbing up the side of that thing?" Kirito asked.

"They made the whole perimeter of the trunk off limits, so a player can't even get close enough to try. And if you even tried flying up, the flight limit of your wings would run out before you even got halfway." Leafa said.

"I heard about some players who tried, they got more than halfway up by piggybacking on each other." Kirito said.

"Yeah I heard about them alright. But they could only make it to the lowest branches before bailing. The GM's freaked out and fixed it, so no one could ever do it again. Know what they did? They put a barrier up there, just above the clouds." Leafa said.

"Interesting." Kirito said. "Alright then, let's head to the base of the trunk."

Leafa and Void started walking behind him. They walked for a couple minutes, before Kirito asked Void, "So I know I couldn't really get to help you with your memory, but I wanna know, has any progress been made regaining them?"

"Well, I got some of my childhood memories back, but, recent ones are still vague in my head. It's okay though Kirito, at this rate I'll have my memories regained in no time." Void said, even though his memory was recovered.

"Oh, alright, you just wanna help us with the World Tree is that it?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah actually. I figured, why not." Void said.

"Well, thanks." Kirito said.

They continued the walk, through the gate and entered Central Aurune. Yui then popped out of her pocket and said, "Mommy. It's mommy, she's here."

"Are you sure?"" Kirito asked.

"Yes I'm positive, I did a player scan, and it's mommy's player ID." Yui said. "Her coordinates are up there in the tree!"

Kirito then activated his wings and flew straight upwards as quick as he could. Leafa then flew up with him, Void followed, eventually, Kirito hit the barrier, but Kirito flew back up again, and bashed the barrier, he went for a second try but Leafa grabbed his hand and said, "Stop Kirito! It's impossible. You can't get any higher from here!"

"I have to, dammit, I have to try!" Kirito said.

"I tried communicating with her but I don't know if it worked." Yui said.

Just then, something started falling, a GM access card, Kirito caught it, "Leafa, do you know what this thing does?" He said.

"No actually, I never seen an item like that before." Leafa said.

Yui flew over, she examined the card, she then said, "I got it, this is a GM access card."

"Really? Do you think we can access the GM controls with it?" Kirito asked.

"No. You need the right console to access the controls. The only way to find it is through the system menu, and even I can't bring that up." Yui said.

"I see. Though, I doubt something like this would just fall out of the sky. I wonder." Kirito said.

"Yes! It's from mommy, she must have heard us and dropped it." Yui said.

"Leafa, I've got a plan." Kirito said. "I need to know where the gate is that'll let me into the world tree."

"Well the gate is at the dome at the base of the tree but, I mean, are you really thinking of going in there? The biggest raid parties couldn't even get through, that whole thing is protected by Guardians!" Leafa said.

"It doesn't matter, I have to try, it's okay, thank you for everything. I'll be going on my own from here on." Kirito said. He then flew down.

"Kirito wait!" Void said, he then flew down. Kirito landed on the ground, a couple seconds later, Void landed behind him. Void said, "I'd like to help you, if that's alright by you."

"Are you sure? You don't need to if you really don't want to, it's not your problem." Kirito said.

"No, I will help. I've come all this way with you guys, I should help too, and besides, I owe you a favour anyways." Void said.

"For what?" Kirito asked.

"For helping me regain all of my memories from SAO." Void said.


	30. Arc 2 Chapter 6

**I do now own Sword Art Online. Please support the official release.**

"Yui, do you know how to get to the dome?" Kirito asked.

"Yes, just go up those stairs and then-" Yui said before Kirito then ran up and flew towards the dome, Void followed as well. "Are you sure about this daddy? Because from what we were told, breaking in is going to be hard."

"It's not like we have any other choice, besides, it's not like we'll die if we fail," Kirito said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Yui said.

"If I have to spend another second waiting around doing nothing, I'm gonna lose my mind," Kirito said. "And I know you wanna see mommy just as bad as I do."

"I do," Yui said.

Kirito and Void then walked up the stairs, they stopped in front of the gates. They got an alert message, Kirito and Void pressed yes. The gate then opened. "Here we go," Kirito said, drawing his sword.

Void drew his sword as well. The two walked in the Tree, it was dark, Kirito and Void tried looking around but saw nothing, until the place was lit up by lights all throughout the inside of the Tree. Kirito and Void activated their wings, they then flew upwards, and the Guardians started spawning. One approached Kirito and another approached Void. Kirito blocked the attack coming towards it, grabbed a hold of the Guardian and chopped it's head off. Void blocked the attack coming towards him, he then cut the Guardian's wrist off and send his sword through its gut. The two continued to fly upwards as fast as they could, but then, a swarm of Guardians had spawned. Kirito and Void stopped, they looked at the swarm for a couple seconds, before flying upwards again.

Void flew towards a Guardian and batted its sword away first, he then spun and swung his sword towards the Guardian's neck, to which it blocked, Void flew back, but a Guardian slashed Void from behind, Void turned around and sent his sword through the Guardian's chest, killing it. Void turned back to the other Guardian and cut its head off by swinging his sword horizontally from his left. Void flew further.

Kirito cut the arms off of a Guardian, turned around and blocked an attack from behind, he then punched the Guardian, sent his sword through the Guardian and punched the Guardian on the head. He then punched the Guardian again, killing it. A Guardian attempted to strike Kirito from behind, Kirito turned and cut its arm off. A bunch of Guardian's then flew towards Kirito, he flew around them, and flew upwards, killing any Guardians in his way, he pushed further up the tree.

The two were so close to the top, but then, Void looked towards Kirito, who had grunted, an arrow had pierced his hand. The two looked below them and saw a swarm of Guardian Archers, who had shot over 200 arrows at once. Kirito and Void flew up as fast as they could, they were almost at the top, but then, both Void and Kirito were pierced by multiple giant swords, being shot at them. Void then fell down, but Kirito tried to fly further, but his health was in the red, still going down. Kirito's health reached zero.

The two had five hundred seconds before they died for good, and would have to start over. Void's flame was on the ground, and Kirito's was halfway up the tree. Kirito looked down and saw Leafa. Leafa picked up Void's flame first, then went up to get Kirito. She flew towards the flame and grabbed it. She then flew down as fast as she could, dodging as many attacks as she could, the archers sent a flurry of arrows down at her, but she continued to fly down, she has hit by five arrows, and a Guardian flew behind her and sent her to the bottom. Leafa quickly got up and flew outside the Tree. The gates were closed behind her.

Leafa let go of their flames, and Leafa used a potion to revive both of them. "Thank you Leafa. Just promise me you won't do that again. I can do this on my own. I don't wanna cause you any more trouble." Kirito said.

"Trouble!? But it's not! I was just.." Leafa said. "Hold on, where are you going?" Kirito walked towards the gates again, "Wait, you can't do this alone Kirito, and Void."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Kirito said.

"You know I'm right, listen!" Leafa said.

"I'm going anyways," Kirito said.

"Please, just stop." Leafa said, "Just go back to how you were, I just.. You mean so much to me."

"I'm sorry, Leafa. If I don't get up there, nothing will end. Nothing will begin. I have to see her again. Just once." Kirito said. "I have to see Asuna."

"W-what. what did you just say?" Leafa asked.

"Her name's Asuna. She's the one I've been looking for." Kirito said.

"But, but the," Leafa said. "Then you're.. Oh my god.." She waited a little bit to ask, "Is that you, Kazuto?"

"Huh? Sugu? Suguha?" Kirito asked.

"I can't believe it. It's not fair." Leafa said, before she logged out.

"Sugu!" Kirito said. "Oh jeez…"

"You didn't know that was your sister all along, huh." Void asked.

"I mean, you could have told me." Kirito said.

"I wish, but I would've needed my memories back then. I have them all back now, thanks to you, so thank you Kirito. But right now, you should log out and talk to your sister. Just try and calm her down." Void said.

"I'll try.." Kirito said, he then logged out.

Void sat down and waited. Twenty minutes later, Void saw Leafa log on, Leafa said "Do you know anything that just happened?" Void shook his head, "Just don't worry about it."

"If you need to talk, I'm here, remember that." Void said.

"Well, it's all just, I don't know. What I can tell you is that I'm Kirito's cousin. For a long while we were lead to believe we were brother and sister but soon, we found out that wasn't the case." Leafa said.

"Well I got that part down already." Void said. After, Kirito logged on, "Anyways, you're good though, right?" Leafa nodded. "So, were all good now?"

Kirito nodded, he said, "Well, we're all going to raid the Tree now, you guys ready?" Void and Leafa both nodded. "Yui, you there?"

Yui appeared, "Hi daddy, what is it?" She asked.

"I need some info on the Guardians. Did you learn anything?" Kirito asked.

"The stats for one aren't very high, but that's not the problem, there's just too many of them, as I see it, this quest is designed to be next to impossible to finish." Yui said.

"So what you're saying is, they all add up to one unbeatable boss, huh." Kirito said.

"Yes but don't forget, your skills and XP are both really high, so maybe with a burst of speed you could mow right through them." Yui explained.

"Wait a minute…" Void said, "I just realized, if I logged out and told my nurse to try and transfer my SAO profile here, or try and merge it, maybe I can get all my stats too. She has my Nervegear."

"Wait, you were from SAO?" Leafa asked.

"Yup, me and Kirito here go a long way, but I pretty much died, but the Nervegear didn't kill me, it only put me in a coma and I was diagnosed with severe memory loss. Because I'm on a Medicuboid and conscious, my memories recovered at a much faster rate than normal. But I can't quite get off the Medicuboid yet due to still being in a coma, but the Nurse says I should be out by tonight. I still need to do rehab, but the Nurse has done her best to recover my strength and so far she's done a really good job, so I'd only need one or two days of rehab to build up my muscle again. I'm going to logout to ask my nurse if she can do something with all my SAO files." Void said.

"Okay, well, hopefully it works." Kirito said.

Void nodded, he then logged out.

Owen was now in the dark area now, the hub of the Medicuboid essentially. He opened his eyes, he said, "Hey miss, can you do me a quick favor?"

"Yes, what is it Owen?" The Nurse asked.

"I want you to merge my SAO files with my ALO files." Owen said.

"Are you sure?" The Nurse asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Owen said.

"Okay, I can try." The Nurse said, she went over, picked up his Nervegear, and used a USB to get all the files she would need, she then plugged them into the Medicuboid, and merged the files. "Should be done now. And also, about your memory, it's fully recovered now, correct?"

"Yes, I remember everything. I was killed in SAO, by Heathcliff, who was actually Akihiko Kayaba. This was on Floor 75, he offered for the game to end if either me or Kirito could kill him. I went up and attempted to kill him, but he managed to kill me, but, I managed to kill him too, thus, ending the game." Owen explained.

"Okay, well, you'll be out of your coma soon, so whatever you need to do, you should do it now." The Nurse said.

Owen then logged back into ALO.

Leafa and Kirito looked towards Void who just spawned in. Void checked his menu, and equipped Slicer and Fryz, and his cloak. "Woah, it worked, not only that you have your items." Kirito said.

"Yeah, it worked. Though, I swear I lost Slicer and Fryz during the fight with Heathcliff." Void said.

"Nonetheless, you have your items, so that makes chances of beating the Tree higher." Kirito said. Just then, the three heard people coming in from behind. It was the Sylphs and the Caitsith.

"Well Leafa, we're here now." Sakuya said.

"Thanks for coming." Leafa said. "Whenever you guys are ready, we'll all go in."

Void and Kirito nodded. The group of players turned towards the Tree, the gates opened, and all the players ran into the tree, leaped up and started flying towards the top.

Void's level hasn't changed, the only thing he got was his skills and his items. He drew Slicer and Fryz and flew upwards. A Guardian had flown towards Void, swinging its sword at him, Void crossblocked and batted its sword away, he then swung Fryz downwards and cut off the Guardian's arm, he then stabbed the Guardian through the chest with Slicer. He flew towards another one and batted away the Guardian's sword with Fryz, he then cut off the Guardian's wrist, then he stabbed the Guardian with Slicer. Void fell back, as the Caitsith warriors riding the dragons were about to fire, clearing out a bunch of the Guardians, but they quickly filled the gap. Void realized there wasn't much else they could do, he had to do something about it, so he decided to look through his menu to see what he could do. He could use his Reflex Tester skill and Demon's Bane, and a Dark Magic Spell he got called Shellbomb, which is a spell that creates a high level force field around the caster, and creates an explosion with a huge radius. The caster survives the spell, and while the spell is in effect, the caster can fly, spreading the explosion, and their weapons will be ignited and blaze in fire, and when swung, causes a giant fire beam to be shot from the sword. Combined with Fryz's ability to shoot beams of Light Magic, the combination of spells and skills Void were going to use would be extremely powerful. Void was glad because the Spell could only be used once, and he's glad he saved it up to this point.

Void then activated Demon's Bane and Shellbomb, he then flew straight up, Void looked as if he were a comet that would wipe the whole human race from existence. Void then used his Reflex Tester skill and as he did this, he shot a flurry of Light Beams and Fire Beams from Slicer and Fryz. The Reflex Tester skill sent Void flying all the way to the top of the Tree, and when he landed, an even bigger explosion happened, surrounding the whole circumference of the tree and the explosion went down half of the tree. Void looked down, he had killed all of the Guardians.

"Kirito! Hurry! Before they respawn!" Void yelled, Void then flew downwards.

"Coming!" Kirito said, Kirito flew up. When the two flew past each other, they hi fived, "Thanks Void."

"No problem." Void said. Void reached the bottom, he said, "Come on everyone let's get out of here!"

Everyone got out of the Tree. Void walked up to Leafa, and said, "Well, I guess I should thank you."

"Oh, I didn't really do anything." Leafa said.

"Nonsense, without you I wouldn't have had the knowledge to get here. Anyways, well, I have to log out, I got a message from my Nurse telling me it's time for me to wake up." Void said.

"Yeah, it'd be nice for you to finally wake up in the real world." Leafa said.

"Anyways, I'm Owen, Owen Snow, in the real world, just so you know." Void said.

"I'm Suguha, Suguha Kirigaya." Leafa said.

"It's been nice knowing you, and I hope I get to meet you in the real world one day." Void said.

"Hopefully. Well, see you around." Leafa said.

Void nodded, and logged out of ALO.

Owen woke up, the Nurse said, "Okay, you should be good to go now. I'm going to turn off the Medicuboid. Your senses like eyesight are going to be sensitive for a short while, so when I turn the Medicuboid off, make sure you slowly open your eyes."

"Okay." Owen said. The Nurse then turned off the Medicuboid, Owen opened his eyes, and got up. He was surprised from all the energy he had, the Nurse did a good job at recovering him from the Nervegear. "Woah, I feel alive. You did a great job recovering me."

"Oh no problem, it's my job after all." The Nurse said. "Try and walk."

"Alright." Owen said. He got up off the bed, it felt weird at first, but soon enough he was able to walk at a semi-normal pace. He wasn't able to run though, but he was happy that he was able to walk. A couple minutes later, Owen heard people talking outside, the window was opened. He decided to go check it out. Owen looked out the window and saw Kirito and Sugou. "I'm in Asuna's hospital?"

"You know Asuna?" The Nurse asked.

"Yeah, I knew her, in SAO." Owen said.

"What's going on out there?" The Nurse asked.

"Sugou is attacking Kirito." Owen said.

"Why?" The Nurse asked.

"Because Sugou's a dirty rat, that's why." Owen said, "But Kirito can handle himself." Owen then closed the window. "If Suguo finds out we seen him, he'll be after us next time he's out free. After that, he's most likely going to be sent to he escapes, he'll be looking for us too.'

"I guess you're right." The Nurse said. " Asuna's room is next door, would you like to see her?"

"Well. Ah sure, might as well." Owen said.

The Nurse brought Owen to Asuna's room. When they entered, Asuna looked and saw him, she asked, "Oblivion? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"I just got out of a coma, I was helping Kirito in ALO, helping him get you off the Nervegear. I just came to say hello." Owen said.

"Well it's nice to see you, what's your real name if you don't mind me asking?" Asuna asked.

"Owen, Owen Snow." He said, "You used your real name for your avatar didn't you?"

"Yeah I did actually. My last name is Yuuki." Asuna said.

Just then, Kirito opened the door, "Hello Kirito, Asuna has been waiting to see you again." The Nurse said.

"Owen? What are you doing here?" Kirito asked.

"I saw you and Sugou fighting, I went in here to protect Asuna in case something bad happened." Owen said.

"Well thanks for protecting her. Sugou's been arrested, he'll be sent to jail." Kirito said.

"Well thank god he's gone now." Asuna said.

"Yeah, what a lunatic." Kirito said.

"Alright, we'll let you guys have your moment." Owen said.

 **The Next Day - School**

Owen walked into the cafeteria, he noticed his amulet was exposed, so he tucked it under his shirt. He walked over and found Rika, someone he hadn't seen for a long while. Rika heard his footsteps coming closer, she turned and saw him, she said "Owen! You're back!" She got up, ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him.

"You seem awfully excited. I mean, I'm glad to finally see you too." Owen said.

"Yeah, that was nuts, you almost got yourself killed!" Rika said. "I had to wait how long just to say that."

"Yeah, well, I would have lived anyways, it was kinda stupid of me to use my Reflex Tester skill to literally launch myself into Heathcliff's sword. I won't do anything stupid like that again." Owen said.

"Yeah, that'd be a smart move." Rika said. "Anyways, are you coming with everyone to Agil's cafe? Everyone is going there, you should come."

"Of course I'll be there." Owen said.

"Great we'll be going now. Everyone's heading out already, so let's go." Rika said.

"Alright." Owen said.

 **Agil's Cafe**

Rika and Owen arrived in the cafe twenty minutes after they left school, they waited for Kirito, Asuna, and Suguha to get there. When the three arrived, Kirito looked around and saw everyone was already there, he asked, "Are we late or something?"

"No, we just gave you guys a later time, just so you guys show up after everyone. It would be weird if you guys weren't the last." Owen said.

"I guess so." Kirito said.

Rika then pushed Kirito and Oblivion over and got then on a box, while she did so she said, "Okay, let's get this over with."

"W-what?" Kirito said.

"Okay let's get this party started." Rika said into her mic, "You all know what to do."

"What am I doing again?" Owen said.

"Congratulations on beating SAO Kirito and Oblivion!" Everyone said.

"Ohh so that's what I did." Owen joked.

A few minutes later, everyone was talking, having drinks, of course not alcohol, due to minors being around. Owen was talking to Kirito and Agil about the seed. Owen decided to ask, "So this seed thing, it's like a game engine for the Nervegear and Amusphere, right?"

"Essentially, that's what it is." Agil explained.

"You know, what, I got an idea then, if that's the case." Owen said.

 **A/N: I wanna say thanks for reading, if you were here for a long time, I wanna thank you for being patient, this was a difficult project for me to work on my own, it's been written throughout a whole year now, and I finally finished it. By the time you see this updated version of this chapter, Multiverse 2 will already have been released. Thank you for reading.**


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